Just As I Am

It's been a really long while since I've written you, dear reader.

Happy 2013!!!

Don't know about you, but I love to organize. And with the New Year here, I have so many projects in mind, it's all I can do to pick one at a time.

Today I organized all of our files. Not just the company files, but every last one of the personal drawers, too. Whew. And I did it in 1 1/2 hours! Of course, the littlest ones were napping...and I did have a big cinnamon roll to reward myself. (It's all about motivation) But I also get to waltz to our filing cabinets and pull out a single folder without stressing out!

What to tidy up next? Hmm....

There is an awesome organization website I'm addicted too. Organizing Made Fun. Once I started reading, I kept clicking and linking to other things. Before I knew it, I was conjuring up all kinds of ideas on how to structure my home. I am thinking my bed room and the kitchen could use sprucing up! I'm not up for entering a contest (because I don't have time to get it done by the deadline) but I still want to complete the challenges. I'll be working on my kitchen this week.

Since we live in such a small space, I continually purge and organize our home. Bring it on - I've always loved a good challenge! Some family members think we purge a little too much "because what if you need it later in a bigger home?". Honestly, if we live bigger someday, we will never need any of the things we have given away! Believe me, we have many storage containers in our huge garage, many of them containing things we will use in the future. But who wants to sit around and hoard stuff you don't need? The girls actually enjoy giving away their unnecessaries because they know they are giving it to people who need it. Like the local refugees who could use our extra mittens and scarves more than we could.

On another positive note, I have lost weight! I am down 18 pounds from my original weight. I still have 5 (or even better, 10!) pounds to go, but only 5 until I get my huge reward for losing my baby weight plus some. I don't want to mention my reward here (or maybe I have in past posts) until I actually hit the mark.

It is very nice to fit into my old clothes versus looking longingly at them. Mind you, I could fit a little better in them. And there are still some I can't fit into, but it's all a matter of time. I have not gone on a magic diet or started P90X or anything. Just the usual running (my exercise of choice) and Precor, soccer once a week, and controlled eating (including counting calories on my phone). Actually seeing the calories you rack up is a huge motivation because I realize how much I have to work out to lose them. In my case, there's leeway since I'm nursing 4 times a day. But it still works. A side note, I also use our Kinect to work out on those days I just can't get away. Just Dance does amazing things!

The downside is, I have plateaued since Christmas because of all those rich desserts from the holidays: angel thumbprints, caramel sticky buns, date bars. Me, oh my. It is a hard addiction to nip in the bud. To help myself out, I've bought a huge bag of fruit to down instead of sweets. Here is to gaining back ground!

I'm so glad we decided to home school this year again! It has really worked well for our family. We've discovered a new schedule that works great for us:

I get up before the kids (usually around 6:30). This gives me time to drink my tea, read my Bible, do some office works, or clean up leftover dishes. The kids wake up around 7:30 and get dressed. Then we have breakfast at 8. School starts at 9, so before then, they clean up their room and make beds. That's the same time I make my own bed and get dressed myself :) This way, their teacher/ mother doesn't look like a four-eyed something that's crawled out from underneath a rock.

All book work is done by noon. Then, we review Latin, have piano practice or a lesson, and do some kind of art or exercise. Then, my oldest gets to do whatever she would like for about 3 hours! This is the time when the youngest nap and when I organize, complete projects, or use Facebook/have computer time. At 4:30/5:00, we have family clean up time, when we clean the entire house at once! At first, my two-year-old whined about it, but now she loves being part of the effort! It's really cute. Then, I get dinner started while the girls set the table or put dishes away. Then they can play quietly while dinner finishes. Daddy usually comes home late, so it's pleasant when he walks in to a clean home. I also feel much more relaxed in the evening with the house picked up.

Of course, I might have to nurse or tend to my baby somewhere in there, but for the most part, it works! It doesn't always go perfectly, but each of my girls have always done well with a flexible schedule. Also, when my kids know ahead of time what's expected, they get into a rhythm, despite their different personalities.

Okay, bed time looms, but I wanted to say that I'm looking forward to taking before/after photos of my organization projects! Let's hope I can follow through with this. Because truth be told, sometimes Internet (specifically blogging) goes on the back burner when I have to get stuff done.

Nighty night!