Ambitions

Before I start, I just want to apologize for always having the LONGEST posts! I'm sure you guys get totally bored, reading these, but sometimes when I finally find time to post, I like to do it all at once! Feel free to skim over my posts. I'm sure they can be pretty boring sometimes! Well...here we go with another long one...


So, now that the seasons are changing, I decided I need to do some changing too. There have been a lot of things I have wanted to do lately, but I haven't organized my time well enough to do them all. So, starting last week, I made a list in my journal of all of my "ambitions" or goals that I want to accomplish. I am trying to wake up around 6:30am instead of 7:30am, because even the extra hour lets me accomplish so much more. Here are the top 10 things that I am working on...

1- Keeping my house clean. Deep cleaning 2-3 times a week.

2- Making more GOOD, HEALTHY, meals for my family.

3- Reading the scriptures 30 minutes a day, instead of just a chapter a day. Continue reading scriptures with my kids everynight, even if it only takes 4 minutes!

4-Practicing my singing everyday.....teaching lessons does not count! I really want to work more on improving my talents. I think it's important for my kids to see me practice also. It shows them that it's important to improve the talents that Heavenly Father gave us. My kids really love to sing with the microphone, while I'm practicing. (especially Kenzie!) Carson has even started asking me to teach him lessons. (He sees all the little girls I teach, and always wants a turn.) Sometimes after my lessons, I let him come sit on the chair by my keyboard, and I do some warm-ups with him. He feels so big and important when we do this!

5- Playing more with my kids. Like, "getting down on the floor" type of playing. Dad's are always good at this, and I need to do better.

6- Having school with McKenzie and Carson SEPARATELY everyday. I usually do pretty good with Carson, but tend to leave Kenzie out when I focus on "school". So, this past week with McKenzie we played with puzzles, worked on counting toys as we put them in a bucket, learned to recognize different colors, practiced animal sounds, body parts, sang songs, read books, etc. With Carson this past week we worked on counting, differentiating between coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter), we practiced the days of the week, learned the 4 seasons, worked on the 12 months of the year, practiced left and right, worked with scissors, drew straight lines and circles, worked on learning each letter, and worked on the "Short" vowel sounds. I love having school with my kids because it gives me one on one time with them, while we are doing something productive. Besides, it's Carson's favorite time of day, and he begs me to play school with him from the moment he wakes up until we do it!

7- Learn more. This sounds wierd, but with school starting, I have this strange desire to work on my own education. I've tried to set aside some time when my kids are napping to study everyday. I have a few old text books, and I ordered a couple of books off of Ebay to get me going. I'm trying to focus on Science, History, and politics right now, since I feel like I struggle in these areas the most. I don't want to go back to school, but I do want to learn, and this is a good time to start for me, I guess.

8- Be more domestic. So, yesterday I decided that I should make something for the Auction that we have at my family reunion every year. (Mind you, I rarely make anything, and I had to get out my sewing machine manual just to remind me how to wind the bobbin!) Anyway, I had heard somewhere that you could make aprons out of kitchen dish-towels. So.... I decided to head over to the store, buy some towels, and give it a whirl. I googled it for some basic directions, and then made up the rest myself. Anyway, it's not real fancy, but I think they turned out pretty cute! Here's one set that I made. I did 2 adult aprons and 2 child aprons for the action.

( I babysit my neighbors two little girls on Wednesday mornings, when she's in class, and so I had the little 4 year old take the picture of us! She did a pretty good job, huh? We had to practice a couple of times, because she kept cutting my head off. Oh how I love Digital cameras!!!)

9- Keep exercising 6 days a week, and eating good. I've done really well this past month (minus the state fair last night!), and I don't want to loose this motivation! I feel so much better when I do good with working out, and eating right, so I think that should be motivation enough, right?

10- Learn to play the piano. I don't really need lessons, because I know the basics... I just need to practice! (and I piano would be nice!... I guess my keyboard will have to do.) I really enjoy playing the piano, and I want to get better, so I can plunk out some hymns if I ever have to! This, however, is on the tail end of my list, and it's something I'll do in my spare time.... if I ever have spare time with all of my new goals!!!

Really, this past week, I have been doing really well with my new goals, but by the time I climb into bed at ...um....9:30pm (I know, I know, we're kind of lame!), I am asleep before my little head hits the pillow! A lot of times I take naps when my kids do, and then I have plenty of energy at night to read and stuff, but I decided that I should quit napping, and use the time my kids are asleep to do some more productive things. But I tell ya, I'm exhausted! I guess it's a good thing to be busy though, right? James has always been my example with this. He is always busy, and yet, ALWAYS happy! He hates wasting time, and I admire this about him. If he can do it... I CAN TO!