Living With Purpose-Getting Healthy

My journey to becoming a healthier family has a lot of proponents to it! It is a total lifestyle change. I will start by giving some ideas of things that we have changed food wise! It is a slow process, one that requires research and some dedication!

 

1. The first thing that I found to be the MOST helpful was Meal Planning and Food Prep. This has been our families key to eating good for the week!

 

I start by filling out my Meals for the week on my nifty little template and also list out all of our groceries! I have began to only shop the perimeters of the grocery store!! I was so proud of this list because the frozen food section was completely blank!! We are not perfect we still have pizza night (the delivery kind :) every Friday night but we are SO much better than we used to be!

 

Once I get the groceries I usually take a few minutes each night to pick out our meal and go ahead and thaw, marinate, cut, dice, etc... the ingredients. I usually do this after the kids go to bed. Not only does it help us not use the excuse of "we don't have anything ready to eat" but it frees up time with the kids!

 



 

2. We just recently really started experimenting with our middle child and what causes triggers in her behavior. It seems she has an extremely high sensitivity to dye, sugar and caffeine in the foods we were giving her. I had NO idea that the package of cinnamon rolls and Red, Yellow and Blue dye in them! I have become very intentional about trying to buy organic snacks, check ingredients and go back to the "basics" of cooking. No more processed waffles or pancakes. I use Bisquick mix and make them "homemade"

Example of our dinners now. Salmon, homemade broccoli casserole with NO cream of anything, Edamame and brown rice...

 

3. Probably my favorite habit I have made is my morning tradition. Every morning I start off with a HUGE glass of lemon water. Lemon water has SO many health benefits. I love the taste and everything about it!

After my lemon water I go straight to using my magic bullet for my "green smoothie" My recipe is usually 1/2 unsweetened almond milk 1/2-1 cup of Vanilla Greek Yogurt, 1-2 cups of fresh baby spinach and then any fruit you choose! I PROMISE you can not taste the spinach, even the kids LOVE them!! They taste delicious!

 

The last thing that I have done is been very intentional about my vitamins. Thru this process I had blood work done and found out that I was extremely deficient in both Vitamin D and Vitamin B two Vitamins that can cause a lot of unwanted side effects if your body doesn't have enough. I started taking the right dose of both vitamins and I also started researching different seeds and supplements. I am a huge fan of Chia Seeds. I add these to my smoothies, salads, etc... I can honestly say that this year I have been sick less than any other year in the past! I rarely get my sinus infections that had become a monthly problem, I don't get as many headaches and just all around I feel SO much better!

 

It does take time and it is more expensive in some ways but once you get the hang out of it and you realize all of the benefits and how much we save not going thru fast food places or out to eat all of the time it is well worth it! I am loving our lifestyle change and I love that my kids are starting to ask "is this healthy?" It is a great foundation for them to have a good relationship with food and fitness!

 

 

Living With Purpose- Family Time

As you know my theme for 2014 is Living With Purpose! I started reading this blog http://www.handsfreemama.com/ probably about 8 or 9 months ago. Every post stung, brought tears to my eyes and resonated so deeply with me that I could only try and change my path! I was thrilled when I found out that she was writing a book and pre-ordered it! It was definitely worth the wait. It is the type of book that you will want to re-read, highlight,dog ear and memorize ever page. It is common sense in a world that is anything but. It brings you back down to reality and helps you realize what and who are important when our world is trying to convince us otherwise! It is in my opinion A.MUST.READ for every person!!

 

With that said I have really tried to remember to be intentional, present in my actions especially when I am with Tex and the kids. I am just like everyone else... easily distracted by my phone, social media, household chores, this, that and everything in between. What may come easy for some people doesn't always come easy for me.... stepping away from a mess to just sit down and play a board game DOES.NOT. come naturally to me. This is a huge life change for me that I hope to improve each day....

 

So we have been dedicating a lot more time to pure family time! Putting the phone away, turning off the television and ipad and actually enjoying each other!

 

Since Chandler got sick and we didn't get to go to Georgetown we wanted to do something fun with the big kids! We went ice skating. It was SO much fun! I think I enjoyed it more than they did even though I am 33 and still skate with a milk crate :)

 

My little ice fashionista, she killed it on the ice!

 

Palmer, my sweet cautious boy! He loved it but was scared to fall but once he got the first fall out of the way I think he realized he was going to be fine! Such a great family night where the distractions of social media and household chores were not present!

 

Since we can't go "out" all of the time we are really trying to make some time at home to quiet the electronics, sit around the table and do some activities. I am slowly finding that I love board games and crafts just as much or more than I did when I was little!

 

We are rainbow loom crazy at our house! The amount of rubber bands I find on the floor on a daily basis is enough to make me coo-coo but another thing I am letting go of!

 

We finally mastered loom bracelets on our fingers. It is sad to admit that I might have graduated college but I have watched 17 you tube videos and don't understand how to make the bracelets with the loom but 7 years olds are mass producing these things all over the country! I finished mine via my own two fingers and I was so proud of myself! The kids LOVE it!

 

Another night this week was board game night which means Monopoly (we really have to step up our board game collection!) Other than Ann Mason sobbing every time she had to "visit" jail or pay someone their rent and Palmer trying to embezzle money from the "bank" into his "account" we had a really, really great time!

 

I am finding that we are much more happy as a family when we have spent time together with no distractions and presently interacting with each other. Not every day is board game day in our house. Yesterday we as a family failed miserably! Fits were thrown, voices were raised and tears were shed (by both parent and child) but one day or one moment is not going to define me. I wake up each day and ask God to just do a little better than I did the day before! This is a slow progress but one that is worth working on everyday as hard as I can!!!

LORDY, LORDY Look Who's 40

 

Before Chandler got sick we were having TONS of fun :) My sweet sister in law turned 40!!! She looks amazing and is so young at heart, this girl is going to rock her 40's!!! We had a blast surprising her for her 40th birthday, she had no idea!

 

Here she is with her momma (my mil)



 

Tex and I getting to enjoy a nice adult dinner with NO kids!!

 

Kathy and I had a BALL making this poster for Tricia. It was of all her most embarrassing and sweet childhood photos! She loved it!

 

Tricia, myself and Tex 

Of course in this family we celebrate birthdays for days and even weeks at a time! On Tricia's actual birthday we got to go out to a great restaurant here in town and celebrate again. This time the kiddos came! 

Does this girl look a bit sick? This is the night that she woke up and had to go to the ER for croop and RSV! Coulda fooled me! 

Sweet cousins. I cant tell you how sweet these girls are to each other. They might have a 7 year age difference but there is a bond so strong between them!

Happy Chandler, I love this girl to pieces. She is a daddy's girl and I suppose will be for life! She loves me too but daddy is where it's at! :) 

This is my husbands picture taking skills! I swear he just doesn't know how to work my phone! This is the best shot we got! So blessed to have family here especially on the days I miss mine the most :( 

 

PS the boys and men were there but obviously they wanted no part in the picture taking! I promise I didn't leave them out!

Double whammy!!

We are experiencing a type of curse you would say. .. it has literally been happening for over two years.  No exaggeration, every time we plan to see my sister who know lives in Virginia ; ( or my parents in Florida someone gets sick.  Not just a cold but the flu or in this case we had to rush Chandler to the er Wednesday night and she has rsv and croop!! I must say three kids and countless doctors visit this was by far the scariest!! After two hefty breathing treatments and a steroid that has resulted in 4:46am wake up calls she seems to be feeling a lot better!!! I am so glad that she is better but there is a little piece of my heart that will be with all of the family we won't be seeing this year!! I think I am going to start celebrating the holidays in July!!

So far....

So far 2014 has already posed, challenges, changes but also moments of joy and it is only Jan 9th!!!

 

Daddy returned home from his trip to Myrtle Beach for his grandmothers funeral. We were so very sad we couldn't go but 12 hours and 3 small kids didn't work out :( We ALL missed him dearly. It is the first time I have gone 5 days away from him with all three kids by myself. This momma was worn out!

The girls were SO happy he was home! He looks exhausted :)



 

We got to hang out with some great friends and have an awesome playdate while Tex was away! I was shocked how agressive Chandler was with Hudson. She was trying to hug and kiss him the whole time!haha He wasn't even phased that cute boy gets girls hugging him all of the time!

 

My dad came in. It is always such a great time when  he comes in to visit and the kids loved it and he takes us out to eat! haha So thankful for him and the time we get to see him, wish it was more!

 

We treated ourselves to Texas Roadhouse, we don't eat out much anymore so EVERYONE including Chandler was very HAPPY!

 

I am trying to do something every week/every few weeks that is pin-spired aka something I saw on pinterest. This is our "gallery" wall in the bedroom we have one more thing to hang in the blank spot but I love how it turned out. We re-did our whole master bedroom and I am just in love! It was the one room in our house that after 2 1/2 years had never had a single thing done to it!

 

This next pic I am so excited about. I started working out Oct 30th, 2013. I met with a trainer twice so she could help show me some moves and take measurements, etc... She made me run a mile and I threw up twice! I am not kidding! I can now run 3 miles in 31 minutes! For those of you that know me know this is HUGE~! Within the first  6weeks of working out I lost 10 lbs and 11 inches!! It has been amazing. I can't wait to see where my fitness goals take me. I love it! I have some really bad "before" pics of myself but not quite ready for any "Afters" maybe some progress pics soon!

 

So that is what we have been up too so far in 2014 and I am probably leaving out 100 things!!! Here is to a good rest of the month!

 

Living with a Purpose

Who doesn't love the start of a New Year? It feels like when I would get excited to go back to school because all of my notebooks were fresh and unused and my school supplies were just waiting for the first assignment! I am not a big fan of NYE, I actually loathe the holiday. It has been a day of bad luck for me for many years, but that is another post! ha

 

So back to the point, I love a New Year and a Clean Slate. For some reason this year I am very intentional in what I want for 2014. I realize that some things are out of my control but the things that are in control I want to be living with a purpose. That is my theme for 2014 (and yes, that rhymed!)

 

Matthew 14:8 said about Mary "she did what she could" that verse has stuck with me for months. I have a lot of grandios plans, big ideas that always get swept to the wayside for one reason or another. What I have realized is that when I think "go big or go home" what actually happens is NOTHING. For example, I love to do service work but sometimes I think I have to move mountains or start a charity and then I end up not giving back at all. When I heard "she did what she could" it hit me like a ton of bricks. I am a full time working mom of three kids and a wife. What I "can do" right now is limited but that doesn't mean that I can't do something! I don't know if any of this makes sense to you but I am fired up about it! ha ha

 

 

I am kind of following suit by not making resolutions but rather having goals and living more intentionally and with a purpose this year....

 

Some of the things I would like to set goals for are:

Growing my relationship with God and reading the bible more

Making Health and Fitness a HUGE part of our entire family, we have already started for about 2 months and can see huge changes!

I want to make more time for Tex and I. Quality one on one time where we actually talk and share and dream. With little kids sometimes your thinker is exhausted by the end of the night and we just stare at the tv or some form of social media and I want us to grow together!

I want to do things I love! I love to do crafts, make things, needlepoint, even. Just because I am a mom and work doesn't mean that I can't do things anymore that I LOVE.

I want to make some new connections and really focus on connecting with old friends as well. I thrive on connections with other people, girlfriends. I want to be better at nurturing those relationships!

I want to find ways to give back more and share with my children the importance of giving back. We did some things this year that deeply impacted my life and tried to get the kids involved. The sort of "got" it in a way but they are still young and I know in the coming years they will start to really understand the importance of giving back.

I want to travel more. It doesn't have to be big exotic trips but rather a road trip here or there with or without the children. Experience new places and things!

I want to find what my strengths are this year, really dig in and find out more about myself, what I really like and what I don't. It is sad but at 33 sometimes I don't know if my opinions were formed by others or are they are true to myself?

And lastly, I want to be a more patient and present mom. I rush thru so many days and I want to stop and take in moments with my children and appreciate even the most chaotic of days. I know this is easier said than done but I want to be more hands on and do activities and visit places with them. I want to grow their little minds while being a family.

 

I know it seems like a lot. There are going to be many days where I fail miserably probably at every one of these but as long as I do better than the day before eventually I will get there!

 

Here's to 2014!!!