In the past few years I have stopped setting personal new years resolutions. I found that after a month or two they always seem to fade away and then I feel like a failure. Instead we have been setting family goals. Things we want to work toward as a family.
If we make some progress we are happy. We don't have to meet all our goals perfectly. Even meeting them half way makes huge difference. This year will be no different. Even if we cannot come to a perfect completion of all our goals, our family will be better off for the progress we make.
This year our goals are as follows:
To get the kids doing chores, daily, in exchange for an allowance.
We have recently noticed that our children (especially our oldest) have a huge disregard for money. They also lack respect for items bought for them. With this goal we are trying to teach them a good work ethic as well as the value of money.
We are going to continue with our date nights.
This is something we started doing for ourselves and our marriage. Our marriage is happy and healthy, and we want to keep it that way. We have recently realized the benefit of some alone time. We get to be two adults, flirting and having real conversation- without interruptions. It's really quite lovely. Our family is also better for it, because happy parents make for happy children!
Our next goal is better eating.
Now, we do eat healthy at meal time. We have noticed however, that the children seem to have an incredible amount of junk food! Most of it seems to appear when family come to visit or after returning from visiting a family members house. Though we distribute it over an amount of time, it's still adding up to a lot. I do not want my children's to struggle with weight and poor self image the way I have. We also don't want them to suffer the bad health consequences of too much junk food.
Routines and organization are next on the list.
While I was suffering from depression earlier in the year some of these got left behind and forgotten. I assure you our home runs much better WITH them then without them! A small space and five people can only function well and stay clean with a lot of organization a some important routines! I can't wait to get a handle on these again!
Family worship and personal bible study.
Family worship is something we have started and let fall by the wayside many times. We want this year to be the year it sticks. The kids are at such a tender age for teaching them about Gods love. We are generally good about doing their sabbath school lesson with them daily, but we could do a little better there as well. This is something that I know will benefit and bless each member of the family.
Te last thing we want to do in 2012 is actually more of a challenge then a goal. It's something I am personally very excited about! It's a consumer challenge. As a family we are pledging to do our best, and not purchase anything that is not a need.
If something large or household becomes a need we are going to try and source it secondhand. Excessive clothing, toys, excessive snack food, and random "things" are some of the items that are not imperative to our survival. I'm really excited to see how much we save by not giving in to consumer greed!
Well, those are our goals! What does your family do? Does each member set their own goals? Do you set goals as a family? Do you usually reach them?
I hope you have have a very safe and very happy new years! May the lord bless you and yours and may your year be full of the love and laughter of those who matter most!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Turkey leftovers
Are you as bored of your turkey leftovers as my husband is of ours? Here are a couple ideas to change things up a bit!
Take that turkey salad sandwich and jazz it up a bit. Add some Greek or Italian salad dressing to your chopped up turkey. Allow to sit for 15-30 minutes. Mix with mayo and any extras you like to add. Make your sandwich and you've got something new and tasty!!
Need some new years ideas? Use up some of that left over turkey to make a chicken wing dip!
You'll need:
2 packages of Cream cheese
1/2 cup hot sauce (such as franks red hot sauce)
1 cup ranch dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar or marble cheese.
1 cup chopped turkey or chicken
Soften the cream cheese and mix in hot sauce. Blend very well. Stir in the ranch dressing. Next mix in the chopped chicken and half the shredded cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 until edges bubble and it's heated through. Serve with corn chips or crackers. Enjoy!!
Take that turkey salad sandwich and jazz it up a bit. Add some Greek or Italian salad dressing to your chopped up turkey. Allow to sit for 15-30 minutes. Mix with mayo and any extras you like to add. Make your sandwich and you've got something new and tasty!!
Need some new years ideas? Use up some of that left over turkey to make a chicken wing dip!
You'll need:
2 packages of Cream cheese
1/2 cup hot sauce (such as franks red hot sauce)
1 cup ranch dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar or marble cheese.
1 cup chopped turkey or chicken
Soften the cream cheese and mix in hot sauce. Blend very well. Stir in the ranch dressing. Next mix in the chopped chicken and half the shredded cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 until edges bubble and it's heated through. Serve with corn chips or crackers. Enjoy!!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Playdoh fun
It's been awhile sicne I've made something fun for the kids. I recently stumbled across a gingerbread playdoh recipe. It looked like such an awesome, fun idea I had to try it out!
The finished product smelled amazing, but was a little dry and left a slightly salty residue. This is an ongoing problem I have when trying to make playdoh. I was quite bummed out because I really wanted to make single portions of gingerbread playdoh for Jake to give out at his school christmas party.
I set off to find a great playdoh recipe. One I could add the gingerbread spices too. I am very happy to report that I finally found it!!! I made soft, pliable, shiny playdoh. The recipe I found makes quite a large patch. I split it up and made three different colors (red, green and white for Christmas) and scented it with peppermint oil. I'm going to make gingerbread next! The recipe is as follows:
Best playdoh recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
4 tbsp baby oil
2 cups of water
Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium size sauce pan. Mix together water and baby oil then add to dry ingredients. Cook on medium high until mixture is thick then remove from heat. When playdoh is just cool enough to kneed, remove from sauce pan and kneed on wax paper. This last step is important because it adds shine and a good barrier because the wax from the paper melts into the playdoh.
The kids have spent the last few days enjoy hours of endless fun. The best part? Many of those hours have been spent playing TOGETHER with the playdoh. Even better, playing together quietly, without fighting! They have been making "cookies" with christmas cookie cutters, pizzas, animals, ect.
As you can see they are having a fantastic time :) as a mom it always makes me very happy to see my children enjoying simple, inexpensive things. So often children today feel they need a fancy, expensive toy to have fun. Or some electronic device or game to entertain them. Yes, my children ate guilty of this too!
Jake just happens to be my bigger offender. I am very pleasantly Surprised that he is entertaining himself with playdoh for such long periods of time.
Proof they CAN play together for long periods of time without arguing! Even Avary got in on it, of course she would have preferred to eat it, I'm sure.
To make playdoh gingerbread scented add:
4 tbsp ground ginger
4 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground nutmeg
1-2 tsp orange extract (optional)
Hope you all have some fun!
The finished product smelled amazing, but was a little dry and left a slightly salty residue. This is an ongoing problem I have when trying to make playdoh. I was quite bummed out because I really wanted to make single portions of gingerbread playdoh for Jake to give out at his school christmas party.
I set off to find a great playdoh recipe. One I could add the gingerbread spices too. I am very happy to report that I finally found it!!! I made soft, pliable, shiny playdoh. The recipe I found makes quite a large patch. I split it up and made three different colors (red, green and white for Christmas) and scented it with peppermint oil. I'm going to make gingerbread next! The recipe is as follows:
Best playdoh recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
4 tbsp baby oil
2 cups of water
Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium size sauce pan. Mix together water and baby oil then add to dry ingredients. Cook on medium high until mixture is thick then remove from heat. When playdoh is just cool enough to kneed, remove from sauce pan and kneed on wax paper. This last step is important because it adds shine and a good barrier because the wax from the paper melts into the playdoh.
The kids have spent the last few days enjoy hours of endless fun. The best part? Many of those hours have been spent playing TOGETHER with the playdoh. Even better, playing together quietly, without fighting! They have been making "cookies" with christmas cookie cutters, pizzas, animals, ect.
As you can see they are having a fantastic time :) as a mom it always makes me very happy to see my children enjoying simple, inexpensive things. So often children today feel they need a fancy, expensive toy to have fun. Or some electronic device or game to entertain them. Yes, my children ate guilty of this too!
Jake just happens to be my bigger offender. I am very pleasantly Surprised that he is entertaining himself with playdoh for such long periods of time.
Proof they CAN play together for long periods of time without arguing! Even Avary got in on it, of course she would have preferred to eat it, I'm sure.
To make playdoh gingerbread scented add:
4 tbsp ground ginger
4 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground nutmeg
1-2 tsp orange extract (optional)
Hope you all have some fun!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Caught up.
Life is a constant growing process. Or at least it should be. Experiences, situations, relationships, they all force us to mature and learn new lessons. However, it is so easy to slide back. To revert to old habits and forget the lessons we have learned and the changes we have made. This is a struggle I am currently having.
The choices we have made in our family have called for some tightening of our belts sort to speak. Having three children and living on one income demands some good budgeting and a little big of frugal behaviour. This is something I have gotten very good at. Recently this is something I have been struggling with.
I'm not quite sure why staying on budget has become so hard. For some reason it has. The little things that use to come so easy and help save money seem to be escaping me. I have suddenly become caught up in commercialism, which just happens to be something I hate!
The society we live in is one focused on ease. We want to make everything simple, save time and put forth minimum effort. I have always taken pride in doing things the "old fashioned" way. Knowing I am providing my family with homemade and handmade items.
For anyone who has ever doubted the savings in doing it yourself, let me assure you, there is savings! I have been making all our baked goods and treats for over a year now. Recently I have been buying about half of those items. I have also been buying more pre-packaged items. Our grocery bill has almost doubled!!
I have also missed the feeling of accomplishment and pride from providing my family with wholesome homemade food and handmade, quality items. I really need to kick myself back into gear and get organized. I miss being little miss homemakerand that's not a line I thought I would ever say ;)
The choices we have made in our family have called for some tightening of our belts sort to speak. Having three children and living on one income demands some good budgeting and a little big of frugal behaviour. This is something I have gotten very good at. Recently this is something I have been struggling with.
I'm not quite sure why staying on budget has become so hard. For some reason it has. The little things that use to come so easy and help save money seem to be escaping me. I have suddenly become caught up in commercialism, which just happens to be something I hate!
The society we live in is one focused on ease. We want to make everything simple, save time and put forth minimum effort. I have always taken pride in doing things the "old fashioned" way. Knowing I am providing my family with homemade and handmade items.
For anyone who has ever doubted the savings in doing it yourself, let me assure you, there is savings! I have been making all our baked goods and treats for over a year now. Recently I have been buying about half of those items. I have also been buying more pre-packaged items. Our grocery bill has almost doubled!!
I have also missed the feeling of accomplishment and pride from providing my family with wholesome homemade food and handmade, quality items. I really need to kick myself back into gear and get organized. I miss being little miss homemakerand that's not a line I thought I would ever say ;)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)