New Things For a New Year

Hello 2009. You are almost here. In celebration of the new year, we have some resolutions that we are working on as a family. Let me list the things that we've all discussed. I plan on giving an accountability report throughout the year to let you know my progress. Hopefully, all things will be crossed off my list come the close of the new year.

1. I would like to lose 13 pounds. I admit that I'm up 4 pounds this month. Could it be all of the food that I have been consuming? Could it be mother nature at work? Certainly. I plan on not dieting, but rather adopting a different manner of eating.
2. We will eat better. During the last several months, my husband's choice of dinner and every other meal has been a Boca Burger and a bowl of rice. It has made it harder on me with K- and I began leaning on more convenience type foods. I will go back to shopping weekly so that I will be able to get our weekly lot of fresh vegetables and fruits. Not every meal will require meat, but we'll cover it with a protein of some sort. I will go back to my weekly dinner menu. That was an easier way to see. Hubs and I can look over and see what components of dinner that he can eat and he can compliment otherwise. We're not take out kind of people or even restaurant kind of people. Just good ole fashioned cooking and a crock pot please! We are also doing a sugar cleansing of the house. K- will choose healthier snacks if they are available to her. Not that we have tons of junk anyhow. She was doing great, then Halloween came. We haven't been able to pull her out of the sugars since then. Right now, she wants "'Whatever is the sugariest, Mommy." Um, yes baby. We'll break you of that.
3. We will keep a tidier house. We're not slobs. I do admit that I live a dump and run existence from M-W (when I work) and clean the house on Thursday. You see, we have all just planned on sticking together, keeping each other accountable so that we can work on the house together. I would love to not have to apologize for the "pile on the end of the table" everytime someone comes in.
4. I will unearth the studio and make work again. I ceased making my leaded glass photo frames a few years ago so that I could mother my daughter without liquoring her up with lead. She understands that the studio is not a place to be-- period. It is full of sheets upon sheets of glass. There are sharp things, hot things, chemical things, cleaner things and other things that aren't great for her. She now has the ability to work on things independently and that will allow me to be a true artist and get back into working again.
5. I will concentrate more on Mommy School with K-. She is doing well. We've been working on numbers and it just hasn't clicked yet. Like ABC's, she struggled but it just all came together in one fell swoop. I suspect that the same will happen with numbers. We're so close. K- likes to craft things and it helps her with gluing skills and cutting. She does well with her weekly book for school. They memorize it more, but she can still bring them out to me and "read" what it says. Even from the first week! The thought it that will turn to sight reading and I think that it is working!
6. I will be certain that we get that bedtime story in every night. We've been reading Amelia Bedelia. Hubs reads a Star Wars Clone Wars comic with her. We have shelves and shelves of books. Some nights I let time slip past and it gets late. I will stay on top of bedtime to be certain that our book gets in there.
7. I will begin devotional readings again. I admit that I typically do devotional readings in the winter, but am not as good in the summer. I've never been one to generally pick a book up and just read. I never found it entertaining. I do find the Women of Faith devotionals wonderful for me, though. Things are in bits and pieces. If I can't finish one whole chapter in a day, it's okay. I need to do that again.
8. That TV will be turned off even more. We aren't big TV watchers. Even still K- will ask, "Can I watch a short movie? Can I watch TV? Can I watch . . . ?" She will sit and watch the box if the box is on. If the box is off, she will find other things to do. She'll play in her play area in the basement for an hour or so straight just if there is music playing that she can sing along to. More music, less TV. Check.
9. We will do walking in the evenings again. We may need to cheat right now and use the treadmill. Hubs is great about exercise. We have a small trampoline in the house for K- and she'll bounce and bounce away. I'm the one bad about exercise. I've never been a fan. I've said before that I don't run unless I'm on fire and even then you aren't supposed to. I do find walking great exercise and entertaining, too. Hubs did hook up the "tiny TV" (AKA the portable DVD player) for us to use while on the treadmill. See, I have no excuse for exercise boring me to death.
10. It's not about me. Its not. It's something that all of us in our home struggle with. We're working on that in a collective manner. We're praying on that in a collective manner.

How about you? Any resolutions on your plate?

Edited to add: Join in the resolution carnival at 5 Minutes for Mom at http://www.5minutesformom.com/5289/new-years-2009-carnival/