How to keep your workout routine well after the resolution has passed.

With the new year coming up, I'm sure you can guess what the #1 resolution is for most people. yes! you got it...weight loss. I recently started doing yoga and have found a certain crazy thing happening that keeps more more motivated than other days. And that's when I wear the right fitting clothes for my body type. I personally don't wear the super tight, super short sports tops. (I mean really...does anyone look good in those that doesn't dedicate their entire life to running a marathon every year?) I have found that if I find workout clothes that flatter my body type, I actually feel skinner during class and if I FEEL skinner then my workouts are working so I must continue on!!!
I recently found this article about flattering workout clothes article it seems pretty interesting and has some really good tips.
Research shows that most gyms' membership, weight loss programs, etc make big bucks in January. You may even start seeing the commercials for discounts and specials starting in Nov and Dec. they are gearing up for the big arrival of members in January. But most of these people have given up by March. We have to change the things we do to get different results. And it's often been said that it's the way something makes you feel that will keep you going. So if you feel great when you walk in the gym or the studio because you look great, well that's a step in the right direction! I don't know about you, but whenever I look in the mirror and see my muffin top hanging over my pants, I say to myself "this is so not working." but if buy that cute little "baby doll sports top" I recently found at target by Champion here, I"m a little more inclined to keep going because "now I'm losing weight!!! yes!! This is working!"

how to start loving your "to do list."

I recently got serious about my yoga practice about 5 weeks ago and have seen some amazing results. I needed to de stress one day and just went to my old studio that I hadn't been to in about 3 years. Back to the 100 degree heat and 70% humidity. And it was just as good and detoxifying as i remember. I left the studio that day thinking "Dang i feel great!!" So i went again the next day, and the next and the next. i thought "what if i did this 5 days in a row!" 5 days in I thought....I'm on to something!

So here I am about 6 weeks later still going strong and regularly attending 4-5 days a week. This habit got me thinking:

What makes me keep coming back to this when I used to always dread the gym?

It made me remember a training or a lesson I once heard about positive thoughts and affirmations. how we reward ourselves. Kind of like the old Pavlov's dog. What is the association to yoga that created this positive experience that kept me coming back?

1. I sweat like crazy because of the heat
2. it was only a 60 min class as compared to the 90 min it used to be. That was doable for me and my busy schedule
3. I felt results after the 1st day
4. Began to sleep better
5. Began to want to eat better
6. I became more relaxed and patient with my family
7. I got much needed "quiet time."
8. after 3 weeks my clothes fit differently
9. I sweat like crazy (oh i already said that!!)
10. my body opened up

And then I realized these are all positive things i'm associating with my yoga practice so I desire to keep going back. Going to the gym used to be "ugh, gotta go workout." Honestly, because I never really sweat all that much so I never felt I accomplished anything, sometimes my workouts were painful especially if lunges were involved, my body would be sore after I lifted a different kind of weight, and sometimes I ate worse b/c I needed to "reward" myself for going to the gym!!! LOL

Those were all negative associations I was attaching to working out. So of course I never wanted to.

This is the lesson: whatever we attach to actions whether it be positive or negative will promote whether we do more of it or not. The training that I once heard about this was if you're in sales or something where you have to make calls, attach a positive result every time you make a phone call. Or when you set goals, do something you love when you reach that goal. Get a massage, buy a new dress, have that dessert (although i don't recommend rewarding with food!!)  And if the thing we must do to get the result we want is viewed as "painful," it will become harder and harder to do. this is where procrastination comes in! this is why we procrastinate!! And there are some things we just don't enjoy doing and they don't make us "feel" good. In many situations, actions must come before feelings. it is the action itself that creates the positive feeling.

Reward yourself today for something that's been on your to do list for a while or take that step toward a change. I bet you'll "feel" better after you do!

Sneaking Snickers

With just 2 days after Halloween, I know you have left over candy you are just dying to get rid of, but the last place you probably want it is in your kids' mouth! I remember when i was young and I would stash my bag of candy collected from the gracious neighbors in my closet and go grab a few pieces every night before I went to bed. But I would save just enough so that I wouldn't run out. This saving eventually led to throwing out a bag of candy every year because I never ate it fast enough and it got old.

As adults now, do you still have a stash of candy you set aside for yourself from Halloween? I usually put my kids' bags in the pantry hoping they just won't see it and forget we even have it. Out of sight, out of mind, right? That may work for the kids, but not for Dad!! Tonight, as I was making dinner, I saw Richard (my husband) out of the corner of my eye go into the pantry. This part is no big deal, but then I just happen to glance over and I hear a "crackle" and saw him put something into his pocket. (I"m still laughing as I type this). and then he saw me see him...(confused yet?). So he did the aimless stare onto the shelves to make it look like he was looking for something. (still laughing to myself as I type this by the way).  And then here's how the rest of the dialogue went:

Me: "what are you looking for?"
Richard: "huh?" (isn't this the response we always get or give when we know we've been busted!!!)
Me: "What are you doing? "
Richard: "oh I was just looking at Grace's candy and what she got."
Me: "Did you just put something in your pocket?"
Richard: "Huh?"
Me: "What did you put in your pocket?"
Richard: "Oh, yeah, just a Snickers."

DAD was totally sneaking a Snickers out of his daughters Halloween candy and had full intention on eating this little sucker in a private place somewhere like some kind of bad habit. It reminds me of people who keep shoeboxes under the bed full of junk food and eat it when they are alone.
I busted out laughing and so did he. It was just so funny to think about this whole scenario and that he was bootlegging candy!!  For lack of a better word.

So sneaking snickers is not a crime punishable by law but it sure does guarantee a great laugh when you get busted of course!

Gratitude

Gratitude. When i started my journal today, i wrote "wow it's November. my favorite time of the year and the month of my favorite holiday. I absolutely love Thanksgiving because it is not about "getting." It seems to resemble of time of reflecting, being with family, finding things we are thankful for, grace, and of course food and football. I truly enjoy Thanksgiving because Gratitude is something that has truly changed my life. When we focus on the things we have, we seem to be given more. Even when we can't seem to find anything to believe in or have faith in, I like what the Bible says, "if you have the faith of a mustard seed....that is enough."  We can build upon that. Have you ever even seen a mustard seed? Well here you go:

They are super super tiny. so sometimes it may seem hard to find something you are grateful for. Other days it may be easy but try starting a gratitude journal for just a week and see what begins to happen in your life. write down 3 things every night that you are thankful for that day. What you may start to see happening is by day 3 or 4, you are going through the day looking for things to put in your journal!!! WOW! you are looking for good things! and not seeing all the bad stuff! What we focus on expands so if we are focusing on good, we will get more good. it is that simple. whatever we sow into the world, we will reap back 100x over!

Here's another great project (don't be overwhelmed! it's very simple) that I am going to do with my family this year. It's the Thankful Basket and you can click on the words to find the details. Go into this month of November with Gratitude. Forget the "oh crap Christmas is in 2 months!, oh crap, another year has already gone by! OMG, my in laws are coming!" Lets forget all that for 7 days and just focus on what we are thankful for and comment on your progress!! I'm sure you'll have some amazing revelations.

A day in the life of a "Mom"treprenuer: Don't Stop Crying

A day in the life of a "Mom"treprenuer: Don't Stop Crying: I was watching an episode of Oprah's lifeclass today and the subject today was "the feeling of love that you can get from an animal." Among ...

Don't Stop Crying

I was watching an episode of Oprah's lifeclass today and the subject today was "the feeling of love that you can get from an animal." Among all the stories on there including Faith, the 2 legged dog and the story of Nate who reunited someone with their dog from Katrina, this blog comes from the "Puppies Behind Bars" story.

Why do we, often men, say "I'm sorry" when we begin to get emotional? When we begin to cry in public we apologize? it really got me thinking. These prisoners who are the best example of "hurting people hurt people," were allowed to raise these puppies into service dogs for wounded soldiers. They are being taught how to love and be unconditionally loved through a dog. And when they are given the chance to share their story and how impacting this program has had on their life, they begin to cry. One prisoner notes," it's allowed him to have the feelings he has had for so long but you learn to restrain from them b/c of this hard environment we are in." Saying all of this while crying and apologizing for it.

Is shedding tears a symbol of insecurity, vulnerability, immaturity, weakness? I believe we are telling ourselves that when we apologize to others for our emotions. It's okay to cry! I believe it's a sign of strength. you are so connected to your emotions and not afraid to show them that it exudes a kind of honor. It got so emotional at this show tonight and I don't know why. I began to shed a little tear myself and i felt myself holding back and i was alone!! I thought why do we do this???? So instead of fighting it, I let the river flow!!! and actually felt better afterwards. It releases some hormone in the body when we  cry.  So think about that next time you begin to get emotional either alone or around other people. Do you say "im sorry" and where did you learn it? Do you hold back the tears for fear of seeming weak? I don't know what the reason is but next time you feel the tears coming, just go with it....

this brings up another thought....why are tears salty??? .....next post i guess....

Baby Proof=Cheap Art

When Grace was a baby, I didn't baby proof anything b/c she simply wasn't much of the investigator. She didn't put anything in her mouth and she was always quite content in a bouncer, exersaucer, or some other toy. Savannah is a whole nother story!!! When she was in the womb, she kicked so much and I remember saying to myself, "if this baby is anything on the outside what she is on the inside, i'm in for a wild ride." And so my prediction came true. She is into EVERYTHING!!! and anything she sees even a tiny crumb on the ground, she hones in on it, goes for it, crawls as if she's in a race against herself, and puts anything and everything in her mouth. There was even a little screw in my closet the other day from the alarm box we had to fiddle with and she went right for it, and almost put that thing in her mouth. Fortunately, I'm also running a race against her most days to get stuff out of her hands! I can't take my eye off her for a second! So ....
I had necklaces in my closet simply in organizers on the ground. and she was getting into them every single day. by the way, you may be asking, why is she roaming the closet? Well, I do still like the brush my teeth and wash my face most days and she is so not content in "toys" all the time, so we let her crawl around with eyes peeled to get energy out while i am taking only a few minutes to look halfway decent most days.
So, back to the cheap art, I had seen people do this and thought hmmmm how can i do this fairly inexpensively? I chose Hobby Lobby when they were having a 50% off frame sale, I found a premade frame i liked and if you go to the corkboard section, they have the exact size (large) that will fit in the frame. i think it was 23x30 but don't quote me on that. I asked the frame dept if they would put the board in the frame. they said "of course!" next question...how much? they said it was free. anything you find at hobby lobby they will put in the premade frames for free. good news!! so she nailed it in, taped it up, even put a hanging feature on the back for me and VOILA!!! I had my corkboard. Now i did have to put some ducktape on the back to secure the board in b/c the tape she used wasn't sticking. I bought the big thumbtacks you see and hung my necklaces right up!!! It totally "fancies" up the room and a great way to see your jewelry. you can do this for anything hanging; ties, bracelets, earrings, belts, hair accessories, etc. So just thought I'd share a really inexpensive way of how baby proof turned into art on my walls. think the whole project was around $50...
Have fun! and comment on any other cool projects you've done yourself.

Arthur's Chicken Pox

Grace, my 3 year old, occasionally watches Martha and Arthur on PBS television. the other day the episode was about Arthur having chicken pox. i thought that's a little strange since no one seems to "get" chicken pox anymore b/c were supposed to be vaccinated from them. I thought the message was good b/c it was funny and about no one wanting to be around him and then by the end, his sister has them.

This brings me to the thought of when my mom told me month's ago that they used to have chicken pox parties before there was such a vaccination. by the way, does anyone know how many shots a child is receiving before they are 6 mos? according to the immunization schedule  by the CDC, a 6 mos old child with no consideration to weight or premature babies is "supposed" to be receiving up to 18 shots!!!! I don't know about you but that's crazy! But back to the funny cartoon, it seems to be not too life threatening if they are showing Arthur get the chicken pox instead of him going to the Dr and getting the vaccine to "prevent" it or maybe he already had the shot. The majority of children getting these diseases have been vaccinated. Hmmm things that make you go .....hmmmmmm ...

So anyways, times have changed. I had the chicken pox when i was a child, my mom did, my sister did, my husband did and so on. none of us had the "Infected blisters, bleeding disorders, encephalitis (brain swelling), pneumonia (infection in the lungs)" that the CDC lists as disease complications. We are all doing quite well. I thought this  funny clip pretty much explained it all. 


So anyways not to sound overbearing, this really was a post on Arthur's Chicken pox and actually how impressed and interested it was to see him get the chicken pox since apparently no one does anymore!!! 

Sexy Kitten

After watching the premiere of Miss Representation on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network last week, I decided to take action and became an action rep. a little daunted by the idea of "am i going to have to go knock on doors or anything like that?" I decided to step forward anyways. I wanted to share with you the first letter I have received from Jenn, creator of this documentary and movement. I have had this feeling before and have noticed the differences as well. I hope you will join along and consider doing what this letter asks or joining your self.

Dear Catherine,

Last week, while browsing Walgreen’s pharmacy, I happened upon the Halloween section and spent some time looking around at what costumes were available for my children (both under two).

Like in so many other areas of society, the options were extremely limiting. The girl’s outfits were almost all centered on beauty and sexuality, while the boys were either professional (i.e. doctor) or violent (a majority of the boy's outfits included some kind of weapon).

I started to think about the impact of young girls being encouraged to dress up as sexy kittens while young boys are pushed towards hyper-masculinity and aggression. 

Halloween seems to amplify our cultural trend of women being raised to manipulate their bodies and boys being taught to master their environments. With these costumes, are we again teaching girls to value themselves only for their beauty and boys to glorify violence? When are we going to provide a wider array of opportunities for our girls to portray characters that aren't easily objectified or sexualized? Where are the costumes for my daughter that actually represent power or authority?

It's not just about our children either. On PartyCity.com the Halloween page features a "Sexy Costumes" section. There are only women's costumes in this section. There's a clear imbalance here: is Halloween now for girls to dress sexy for men? The way we adults approach this holiday has a direct effect on how our kids view it. And with more and more of us participating in Halloween each year, it becomes critically important for us to think about that effect.

This Halloween I urge you to consider carefully how you dress yourself and your young ones. But since the costume stores aren’t displaying much creativity, we have to help each other come up with interesting and inspiring outfits.

We’re starting a campaign to collect positive and non-gendered Halloween costumes online. Post pictures or videos of your outfits on our Tumblr page and leave a sentence about why you chose it! Together we can start new trends and make Halloween a little less disconcerting for parents.

2 glasses of wine....take as needed

I was watching Life as we Know it the other night where the parents pass away and will their 1 year old to 2 single people who don't really like each other. and as the stress and uncertainty begin to take over their lives, the "new mom" goes to the routine dr's appt and expresses her frustration and confusion of "why me" to the dr. and writes a prescription "2 glasses of pinot noir. take as needed." the next scene is the result of dr's orders!

One of my favorite parts of my day is after i've done the rounds in the house at night. Checked on the kids one last time, double checked all the locks, let the dogs out to take care of business until the morning, and turned out all the lights.  the house is silent and I love it! sometimes i like to have a glass of wine or who are we kidding, maybe 2 and watch tv, read a book, BLOG!! LOL. it's just that time of the day i think most moms look forward to...naptime and bedtime. But no wine at naptime. that's usually filled with work and chores!

I filled up my glass the other night, took a couple sips and was so tired, i poured the wine back into the bottle and went to bed!!! Sometimes it truly is the thought that counts! So get the fancy glass out and enjoy some wine. or just pour the wine and head to bed! either way, it's what the Doctor ordered. and as a mom, I don't always listen to what a "person in a white coat" tells me (that's another more serious blog), but in this case, i have no problem with this prescription and am following orders quite often! cheers!

Coals or Diamonds?

If someone were to ask you would you rather be a piece of coal or a diamond, I would like to think that most people would sarcastically respond, "uh diamond.....of course."

But do you know how diamonds are made? Neither did I!

I'm currently reading Miracles Can Happen by Mary Kay Ash and in the chapter, plan your life like you plan your vacation (we do lots of those! wink) she mentions that "a diamond was once just a hunk of coal until it was put under pressure and polished to perfection."

This really propelled me to the thought, "are most of us willing to be put under pressure to become the diamonds we were meant to be"? We all want to be diamonds but sometimes it's hard to go through the process of "polish and pressure." so naturally what does it mean to be polished? Polish is defined as to make smooth and glossy, especially by rubbing or friction. Ouch! who wants that? most of us want to be polished by sitting comfortably on our couch in front of the television eating oreos and drinking milk (oh is that just me??? ). And what does it mean to be pressured? Pressure means the exertion of force upon a surface by an object. This reminds me of statements like "don't pressure me! I'm feeling pressured! Ah, the pressure!!" So if this is what it takes to be a diamond, is coal really looking all that bad anymore? 


Truth is if we want anything great in life, we will be polished, pressured, frustrated, rejected, frictionized, scared, alone maybe even rubbed...(the wrong way that is). But it's all just part of the process. There's definitely nothing wrong with coal. there's many uses for it which i won't go into here. But God does have a plan for your life and this reminds me of that famous quote by Maryann Williamson in A Return to Love that says:


Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”


Last time I checked, coal doesn't shine. Diamonds do! So go get pressured and polished today and let that little light start shining that is truly inside all of us!

Dream Big...but not really

As i stroll through well known kids clothing stores, i see shirts with the well known saying on them "Dream Big". And I've also heard it said that "kids will do what we do, not what we say." if this is true, do we as parents "Dream Big?" or do we just "get by, make ends meet, pay the bills, clean the house, stop daydreaming, get real, be realistic, get a good education, find a job, get in debt...?" A heavy topic to think about but one that needs to be reflected on if we embellish clothes and decorative items with these 2 words that can mean so much but seem to just be...well... a dream.
When our children are young, they're imaginations run wild. My 3 year old asks me probably 10x a day to play with her by stating 2 simple things..." i'll be the (fill in the blank) and you be the (fill in the blank) quite often these are mom, baby, doctor, ballerina, or princess. And while I would never say to her, "you'll never be a ballerina or a princess." isn't that what we are thinking sometimes? Oh these are just games, it's just fun, aren't they so cute...
Instead i've decided to tell my kids they can be anything they want to be and do anything they want to do. Success is just a mindset. half the crap we are trying to overcome as adults are the stupid things people told us as children. If we were told all positive things as kids, we wouldn't believe any different. The problem is most people will never achieve their dreams because they believe what they have been told. So this little saying "Dream Big" means more than just a tshirt. it can be life changing and truly teach us to lead by example. After all, I'm sure Kate Middleton's mom played princess with her when she was a girl. The words that she said to her daughter and the example that she set, we may never know. But I have to believe that somewhere throughout her life, she did Dream Big and wasn't shown anything otherwise because she did manage to attract the likes a very well known real life Prince who saw something in her that warranted his affection and belief in her.  And now she has a title of royalty.

So pardon me, while I end this post to go play a game of "you be the princess" with my daughter.

People ask me this all the time....

"Scientists can put a man on the moon, but they can not answer the most basic question of early parenting: how to have a happy and contented baby who sleeps continually through the night like the rest of the family and a mother who is not in a perpetual state of exhaustion."

I constantly have teachers, other moms, business partners, and friends ask me "how do you get your kids to sleep 12 hours a night??" Here i was thinking this was the norm when I had my first child, who is now 3. and come to find out, it's not!!! Some people told me "you're just lucky to have a sleeper" with my first. But then when we did it with my 2nd, I knew it was a product of good training!  Why is it that we go to business school to learn business,  go to more business school to get an MBA but to open our minds about parenting or to pick up a book about how to teach your baby to sleep is appalling to many people!!! I'm saying this b/c i'm one of those moms that read and "did" Babywise. it's a book by Gary Ezzo called "On Becoming Babywise: teaching your children the gift of great sleep." and its a very controversial book. But it's funny...the parents that do it have the "best" kids! B/c they are getting tons of sleep and eating great which therefore leads to a happy disposition and a baby that barely ever cries. I'm serious! when my kids cried, i knew there was something wrong. It wasn't just that "normal thing that all babies do." it either meant they were hungry, tired, teething, or getting sick. I knew how to better assess the situation and how to fulfill their needs.
And because of this book, I'm able to do so many more things because i have a schedule. I have to thank my dear friend Vanessa Seavall who told me about this book. she does not have children yet but she had many friends that did and who all did Babywise. So on a quick trip to Austin one weekend when i was pregnant with Grace we ran to Half price books and picked up Babywise for a mere $4.97. My how that $5 has gone a long long way!!! So you can imagine that I thought this was the way that every parent did it! But when I encountered comments like "she sleeps so good, she's always happy, she's such a good eater, she never cries...." I began to wonder, Is this NOT what every parent is doing and Why!!!! After getting on the internet, I discovered the answer to my questions. so many parents were taking the book as regulation, managing,  militant schedule, only feeding 3 hours and never before or after, crying it out to the extreme or they never even read the book. They just skimmed it or heard about it from a friend!! and i even did this too for a bit with Grace. I was a little too "by the book" But Ive read this book so many times and referenced it so much, the front cover has come off! And it says " its a guide. let your schedule serve you. growing spurts you feed more often, a schedule is to help you learn how to assess their needs, teach them how to fall asleep on their own, give your child the GIFT of good sleep? I"m not going to go into how the book works or what it says. You can read that for yourself or visit the site i go to quite often in the early months of birth Babywise Mom
this site is amazing and answers every question you have. I was on this site constantly after my 2nd.

But its a book worth reading if you have babies and you can even start late. I once heard someone say "If I buy your opinion, I buy your lifestyle." I want the lifestyle of all babywise moms, which is why I don't by the opinion of the "babywise haters."

And this book has a whole series: Toddlerwise, PreK wise, TeenWise...etc. it's really the only parenting book I've ever read not b/c of favor or ignorance. It's just worked for me and I'm very happy with the results and the great lifestyle we live. I've been blessed with amazing kids, but I'd like to think I had a little something to do with it too! wink....in fact, we all have the ability to have amazing, disciplined, obedient, happy kids b/c how we choose to raise them is up to us.

But I haven't hit the Teen years yet! That's a whole 'nother monster i here. i'll enjoy the young ages while i can and save Teenwise on my bookshelf until further needed....

When a spouse travels....

Everything goes on hold...for me that is!! I learn to appreciate and find gratitude in the blessing of having 2 stay at home parents. B/c when one is away, the other with definitley NOT play! it's non stop! I'm a mom but I also have a home based business so when Richard travels for a business deal or an investment he is looking into (btw, why are these always in Vegas?? ...hmmm. anyways!), I"m literally on hold till he gets back or i'm doing work after 8 pm. And in all honestly, the only thing i wanna do after a day full of kiddos by myself is get in bed and watch some mindless tv like The Kardashians (my guilty pleasure) once they are asleep.  Can anyone relate? do you have husbands that travel for work? What is it like to be home with the kids if they aren't in school all by yourself? Insane! Some days...the most i've done it before is 4- that was a doozy! But it allows me to fully have appreciation for when he gets home and most times, I always get a little "me time" out of the deal....so I guess when i'm sitting at the spa in my white fluffy robe awaiting my massage, it's not so bad. It leaves me asking, "when's the next trip, honey?"

60 minutes

Why is it that a one hour dr's appt seems to affect the entire day? Those with newborns I know this affects you!!! If you run your kids on a schedule like i do, it affects us "tight ship" moms too. Ive truly learned to not schedule anything else on dr appt days....seriously!! b/c the day you do, the Doc is running an hour behind. I mean really, i'm supposed to sit in this little 10x10 room with a 3 yr old and a "curious, crawling, gotta have every electrical cord" 1 yr old and expect to come out happy??? it's definitely God's way of growing my patience level. When I prayed for patience the other day, I was hoping for something a little less brutal. But all things said, I wonder if anyone else feels the same way i do sometimes?? they need to have like a play area like Mcdonalds does or Chickfila! that would be awesome! But then i guess i could foresee the children never leaving and that would not be so awesome. So I guess we just look forward to the day they turn 2 (i think it is ) when we just go to yearly appts!!

Dinner: always a dull moment

Dreadful dinner!! Why is it that dinner time is always so dreadful in the Bond household? is it because I make it that way, because I don't really like cooking, I don't know how to cook, or I just hate the cleanup. I'd like to think it's mostly the latter, but also that most times I have absolutely no idea what to make. I really strive not to be a hamburger helper or "its pizza tonight!" every night kind of mom! Not that there's anything wrong with that....well, ok, there is a little something wrong with that. (psst..it's not healthy!) But those just aren't my choices. So while searching a pumpkin pie recipe (yes i'm in a dessert making mode right now), I found a great Paula Dean one that includes cream cheese, half and half..and a bunch more fattening things...why does all paula dean's stuff so full of dairy and butter??? anyways, that's not the point! I did end up finding Moms Who Think website. it has 8 weeks worth of easy recipes on it and they looked pretty decent. With a little healthy tweaking I think i can make it work. Ive also come to accept that even though dinner may not be perfect or the best meal ever, it's the time we spend together that the kids often reflect back to. I can't tell you how many adults I talk to that remember dinner time as one of their favorite parts of the day with their family. So here's to 8 weeks (or more like a lot more....let's face it.. going out to eat is still a family meal) of cooked meals. I just hope this idea lasts till tomorrow!

I do it all....but not really!!

I'm sitting in my home drinking a great cup of coffee while my amazing housekeeper, Maria, does all my family's laundry. She comes to the house once a week and does the laundry every other week. we pay her $45 . is that a joke????, I thought when she first told me what she would charge me if I asked her to do that!!! that's only $90 a month and do you know how much time that saves me on a weekly basis to do the things i want to do! This is the importance of delegation. Are you a mom that works full time? part time? or a home based business mom like myself? or do you just hate doing laundry!! LOL. You may want to entertain the thought of delegation.

Here are a couple really great quotes about delegation:

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Theodore Roosevelt

No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit. Andrew Carnegie 

Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too. Robert Half


I used to have a really hard time with this b/c I wanted to be the mom, business person, wife, etc that  "could do it all!" But then after reading many books on leadership, i realized that the people we think are "doing it all" have a team of people behind them doing things for them!!! Yup! that's right! they are NOT doing it all!! Smart successful wealthy people DELEGATE!!!! 
So i started with my house and laundry! and for $90 a month, you can't beat it! I can spend that time doing more important things: building my business, making phone calls, going to lunch, running errands (that's my next delegation...although I never miss an opportunity to go to Target) spending more time with my family! (there's a thought) or just simply reading a great book instead of spending hours upon hours washing and folding. and for a family of 4, it adds up! Not to mention my 3 yr old who goes through like 3 outfits a day, each one with a bit of leftover chocolate milk, spaghetti sauce, dirt, whatever! we never seem to be able to keep an outfit clean. 
So I empower you to think of something you can delegate today! Give something away today and you'll be amazed with how much more "time" you have to do the things you want. 

A Quarter for your shoes

Grace takes after her father. leaving a string of clothes and left over items in their path so we know exactly where they have been. if this was a game of Clue, it would definitley be the winner. As the famous game goes..."Grace Bond in the living room with the red crayon." But unfortunately, this isn't just a game...this is my less than perfect home!!! That I will admit, i love having perfect and have pretty much given up that idea with 2 children under the age of 4. Really, i keep the downstairs pretty clean and stash all the mess upstairs! anyways, back to my point. oh yes, Grace takes after her father...of course. every time we walk in the door, it's off with the shoes and upstairs to put on jammies. I began to grow weary of my efforts of continuing to pick up after 4 people in this family....myself included. there's just not enough time in the day. and let's face it..people will not be all too impressed with the words "she was a clean freak" at my memorial service.  Instead why don't we teach the 3 yr old to clean up after herself! wow novel idea. I guess i just haven't been doing it b/c i figured she was a little too young to be cleaning already (unless it's a diaper wipe out of Savannahs box..then she loves to clean the tables) and I figured isn't this a form of child labor or something? But then hmmmm what if i started small? so i began with "a quarter for your shoes." I told Grace everytime she puts her shoes away without me asking, she'll get a quarter. It seems to be working..ive had to remind her more than not and i've even been met with "no i don't really want a quarter today" response. (wasn't expecting that one). But all in all, we are making progress. I even went upstairs one morning to check on her b/c she'd been up there for quite some time. I walked into her room and she was going back and forth from one side of her bed to the other. What are you doing? i asked....she responded "i'm making my bed!" with a big 'ol grin on her face.  Wow! I was impressed. I'd like to say my little plan is working....

No, we just went to Colorado!

Today, Grace and "daddy" were going to check out a restaurant investment called Top Golf in Allen, TX. We told her there was gonna be putt putt golf there. and immediately, she asked " are we gonna go up in the lift thing?" (referring to our recent trip to Colorado where we rode the ski lifts and went down a super slide with a finale of putt putt golf). We said no that was in Colorado.  I asked her if she liked it and if she wanted to go back. She said "NAH!!! we were just there!!" I realized in that moment the gift we are giving our children through travel. Grace is experiencing so many new things that will impact her life forever. I heard on the Oprah radio show the other day that if we can give the gift of experiences to other people, that is more impacting that things. Experiences last forever and get embedded in our memory.  I only hope these experiences bless our family with joy and gratitude for the life they have been blessed to experience. Check out Grace trampoline bunge jumping, which she very scared about doing at first and then decided to take the plunge!!

Yoga and Sweet Child 'O Mine

I went to yoga today in a studio that is next to a bar. it's funny that I've never really noticed it before but i noticed it tonight. I went in thinking...hmmmm this is interesting. To me, it was 2 completely different intentions and ways to spend your evening. As I went into the studio, i grabbed a place on the floor that was really one of the only spaces left and placed my mat on the floor. as i lay in silence on the mat, i began to hear thumping. I can hear the bar music right door! it was kind of funny throughout the whole class that i could hear conversations, pool balls hitting the side of the table and oh yes, a quite familiar tune....guns and roses! it occurred to me that we were all in the same "space" but getting completely different things out of our experience. some people were in a bar drinking, playing pool to relax and escape from their day in a sense, forgetting their problems for the day. while i was in a yoga studio right next door going through a series of poses trying to get more centered into myself and actually grateful for all that God has given me. My how life has changed.. a few years ago, I would have been in that bar hearing the music, drinking, not so much playing pool, but complaining about my day or talking about my problems. Today, I'm in a place of gratitude and awareness that everyday is a gift and that one hour of calm to "not so calming" music was just where i wanted to be.

growing in numbers

I started this blog as more of an experience of journaling and/or sharing my experiences of growing a business but also being a mom. i'm a mom of 2 amazing girls. Grace is almost 4 and Savannah is 1..TOMORROW!!! my how a year flys by. Anyways, i noticed there are a lot more women and moms getting involved in earning income from home and i wanted to start this blog as a level of support but also as a site to go to for tips and suggestions on how to balance it all. To give moms a resource that may help them feel good about being a mom first and pursuing their goals, dreams and desire as a close second. We all have dreams for ourselves but when we become parents, we pretty much tend to put that on the shelf for our children. But i also feel home based businesses are one of the best gifts we can give to our children. it allows us to work part time on our schedule but also develop ourselves personally. and when we do that, we become a better mom, wife, friend, sister, daugther, aunt, person! and as "they" always say kids will do what we do not what we say. So if we can teach our children to dream,  reach for the stars, sail away past the safe harbour but also instill such a self esteem and confidence in them that comes from present parents, strong family values and connection, i think we can truly have it all.  I read "Inside My heart" by robin mcgraw and she made a statement in that book that i will always remember. she said "I never saw myself as raising kids...I saw myself as raising adults." How profound!! We only get 18 summers with our children and those 18 summers or years is time that goes by way too fast. Then they go out into this world and treat others the way that we have treated them. Our work in the home is so important and is passed on from generation to generation. we are truly raising adults! So next time we buy that pretty sign from the cutest boutique in town that says "DREAM" we can truly ask ourselves "is this just a cute word that i hang in my house or daughters room as decoration or am i teaching this to my children through my example as a way to really go through life?"