Company Girl Coffee AND a Long Overdue Update

It's been forever since I've done two things...

1.  Post something new on my blog
2.  Participate in Company Girl Coffee

SO, I am going to try starting off 2012 the right way by doing both.  Welcome to all of you Company Girls!  Please take some coffee (mine is Starbucks, fresh out of my coffee maker~wish I could send you some!) and relax with me for awhile.

So much has been happening here!  Charlie is LOVING Kindergarten.  So much so that he wanted to go back to school the Monday after Christmas.  Crazy, right?  He is doing a great job with learning to read, which is such a relief to me.  Evan, our oldest, was diagnosed with a learning disability when he was in Kindergarten.  School has been such a struggle for him, and it breaks my heart!  I have been praying hard for Charlie and Sammy that they will not have this hardship in their lives.

I have finally started to achieve one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2011, even though it happened late in the year.  I went to my doctor at the end of October, and told him how extremely frustrated I was with dieting.  I had been running 3 miles, 5 days a week and doing Weight Watchers for months and I was GAINING weight!!  Can you believe it?  I was ready to give up completely.  My thought was if dieting makes me gain weight, I'm going back to eating whatever I want!  Dr. A put me on a low glycemic index/Atkins type diet, and suddenly the weight started melting away.  Since November 6th, I have lost 21 pounds.  Such a relief!!  Since my Dad died, I've really been trying to get my health and weight under control, and I am so glad to finally be on the right track.  (Also, it's been lots of fun to get new SMALLER clothes for Christmas!)

So, with one of my long time goals on the right track, I am recommitting to making Sanctuary in my home in 2012.  This is an area I really let slide this year...as usual I am having a hard time balancing work (I am a teacher and always have lots of work to do at home, as well as at school), being a wife and mom, and somehow keeping my house clean.  I am looking forward to working with Rachel Ann and the other Company Girls at Home Sanctuary to achieve this!! 

Happy 2012 everyone!  My prayer for my family and yours is that it's a GREAT one!!!

Sucess!

I have been working along with Rachel Ann at Home Sanctuary to accomplish one of my New Year's goals. I wanted creating Sanctuary for my family to be a major focus for me this year. Luckily for me, one of the first tasks Rachel Ann assigned was to take a close look at our weekly schedule, and then to use that to create a weekly Housekeeping Schedule.

This was so helpful. In the summer, when I am off work, it is SO much easier to get everyday chores done. When I am working full time, it's another story. Setting a schedule and involving my family was a great idea. We divided up tasks based on our schedule of weekly activities, and both Evan and Jeff agreed to be assigned regular jobs.

This was my first whole week of following with the schedule and sticking to it. And it ROCKED. My laundry was done ahead of schedule today. My house is clean. I even had time for a couple of organizing projects around the house. I completely cleared off the fridge and reorganized it today. When Charlie came through the room when I was done, he asked, "Hey, who got us a new fridge Mom?" Wow. That little comment showed me just how badly this needed to be done!

And now, I even have some me time at the end of the day! A perfect way to end a Sunday. Thanks Rachel Ann, for such a great idea.