I'm already moving my blog to it's own location in the world wide web...www.momsmotivation.com!! I am currently in the process of setting everything up, and it may be a couple of weeks before I have everything in place and am able to start posting regularly.
I hope you've enjoyed my blog thus far and I look forward to seeing you at my new location. :)
Lesley
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
More About Me...
I thought I'd use today's post to share a little bit more about myself for those of you that land here and have no clue who I am. And even for those of you that know me, but just can't get enough and want to learn more. :)
I'm 34 years old, have been married for almost 13 years to my husband, Kevin, and we have three daughters ages 9, almost 7, and 5.
I was born in South Carolina, but have also lived in Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado and currently reside in the great state of Texas. I've been in Texas the longest, so consider it more my home than any other place. But, on a bad day, you might hear my South Carolina accent slip out, or hear me use words like "pocketbook", "hard back bugs", or the "eye" of the stove. And, yes, I do prefer sweet tea and would be perfectly alright if that's all the restaurants here in Texas offered.
I'm the youngest of two girls and both my parents and my sister and her family live in the same town as I do. We see each other regularly and I am so grateful that my kids get to grow up living so close to family.
My hobbies include scrapbooking, baking, playing card games, playing the piano, eating chocolate, and reading...none of which I get to do as much as I'd like (except eating chocolate...somehow I find plenty of time to do that). Hobbies I wish I had that would make people laugh if they saw me try to do them now include dancing, golfing, and playing the violin (although I've actually never tried to play the violin).
I currently home school our girls and plan on continuing to do that through their high school years. We do alot of reading and learning through the things we're going through in life (I call them our life lessons). My youngest is just starting to learn how to read and it is so exciting to watch. I also lead a home school American Girl book club that is reading through all of the AG historical character series of books. This past year was our first year and it was so rewarding.
Something fairly major we have going on in our life right now is that we just put our house back on the market. We tried to sell last year, but had no luck. We want to move out to the "country" and have a little bit of land. It's actually a dream my husband and I have shared since before we got married. It may or may not happen, and we are trying to keep the right perspective knowing God is in control and knows what is best for us.
I hope you've enjoyed this little "all about me" post. I'd love to learn more about you...drop me a line anytime.
I'm 34 years old, have been married for almost 13 years to my husband, Kevin, and we have three daughters ages 9, almost 7, and 5.
I was born in South Carolina, but have also lived in Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado and currently reside in the great state of Texas. I've been in Texas the longest, so consider it more my home than any other place. But, on a bad day, you might hear my South Carolina accent slip out, or hear me use words like "pocketbook", "hard back bugs", or the "eye" of the stove. And, yes, I do prefer sweet tea and would be perfectly alright if that's all the restaurants here in Texas offered.
I'm the youngest of two girls and both my parents and my sister and her family live in the same town as I do. We see each other regularly and I am so grateful that my kids get to grow up living so close to family.
My hobbies include scrapbooking, baking, playing card games, playing the piano, eating chocolate, and reading...none of which I get to do as much as I'd like (except eating chocolate...somehow I find plenty of time to do that). Hobbies I wish I had that would make people laugh if they saw me try to do them now include dancing, golfing, and playing the violin (although I've actually never tried to play the violin).
I currently home school our girls and plan on continuing to do that through their high school years. We do alot of reading and learning through the things we're going through in life (I call them our life lessons). My youngest is just starting to learn how to read and it is so exciting to watch. I also lead a home school American Girl book club that is reading through all of the AG historical character series of books. This past year was our first year and it was so rewarding.
Something fairly major we have going on in our life right now is that we just put our house back on the market. We tried to sell last year, but had no luck. We want to move out to the "country" and have a little bit of land. It's actually a dream my husband and I have shared since before we got married. It may or may not happen, and we are trying to keep the right perspective knowing God is in control and knows what is best for us.
I hope you've enjoyed this little "all about me" post. I'd love to learn more about you...drop me a line anytime.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Read, read, read....Did I mention you should be reading?
Just so that you feel like you're in 11th grade English again, I thought I would use today's post to motivate you to read more.
Reading should be a part of our daily lives. I know, I know...to some of you that sounds really b-o-r-i-n-g. I was right there with ya until a year and a half ago. What changed it for me wasn't that I just found some entertaining books to read that were on the New York Times best seller list, but instead, it was pointed out to me how much there is to learn and apply to our lives today by reading the classics that were written before the New York Times even existed! And they are far from the dreaded "b" word (boring).
Two that I suggest you start with are: The Secret Garden or A Little Princess, both by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Pick one, read it, and let me know what you think.
The other issue with reading that you might, and I actually still, struggle with is finding the time to actually get through a book. If I don't intentionally set aside time, it won't get done...which is actually true about anything. We set aside time for the things that are important to us.
Remember the daily planning I talked about yesterday...use it to schedule yourself some reading time, even if it's only for 15 minutes. And you'll be surprised the pockets of time you have during the day to read that you didn't even realize were there. When my kids are in dance class or piano lessons, I read. While waiting at the doctor's office or pharmacy or any other times throughout the week where you are having to wait you can use that time to read (it actually makes the waiting go by so much faster too, which is always a plus). Make it a habit to carry the current book you are reading with you every time you leave the house.
I encourage you to make reading important for the next two weeks and see if you don't get hooked. And once you are hooked, your kids will soon follow. I am a living testimony to that fact. But, I'll save that topic for another post on another day.
Reading should be a part of our daily lives. I know, I know...to some of you that sounds really b-o-r-i-n-g. I was right there with ya until a year and a half ago. What changed it for me wasn't that I just found some entertaining books to read that were on the New York Times best seller list, but instead, it was pointed out to me how much there is to learn and apply to our lives today by reading the classics that were written before the New York Times even existed! And they are far from the dreaded "b" word (boring).
Two that I suggest you start with are: The Secret Garden or A Little Princess, both by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Pick one, read it, and let me know what you think.
The other issue with reading that you might, and I actually still, struggle with is finding the time to actually get through a book. If I don't intentionally set aside time, it won't get done...which is actually true about anything. We set aside time for the things that are important to us.
Remember the daily planning I talked about yesterday...use it to schedule yourself some reading time, even if it's only for 15 minutes. And you'll be surprised the pockets of time you have during the day to read that you didn't even realize were there. When my kids are in dance class or piano lessons, I read. While waiting at the doctor's office or pharmacy or any other times throughout the week where you are having to wait you can use that time to read (it actually makes the waiting go by so much faster too, which is always a plus). Make it a habit to carry the current book you are reading with you every time you leave the house.
I encourage you to make reading important for the next two weeks and see if you don't get hooked. And once you are hooked, your kids will soon follow. I am a living testimony to that fact. But, I'll save that topic for another post on another day.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Daily Planning
I'm convinced the key to staying sane (whether you have kids or not) is to have a plan for each day. Now does this mean that I actually do that in my own life? Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't answer that and just make all of you guess. What I will say is that the days where I have put together a tentative plan for me and the kids then our day goes by oh so much smoother. The reason I used the word "tentative" is because, as you all know, plans sometimes have to change due to unforeseen circumstances....one of the kids get sick and you make an unscheduled trip to the doctor, your child holds one of those mini hand-held fans too close to her hair and you spend 30 minutes trying to get it out, or a friend stops by and you visit way longer than you planned (although I think that can be a good thing).
I highly recommend you sit down before going to bed and make a schedule for the following day. It doesn't have to list exact times, or even be in any particular order. It just needs to be what you need/want to get done...and it needs to be realistic. I'm thinking that if you put "30 minutes of alone time with no interruptions" then you're going to be a little disappointed when it doesn't happen. And for those of you that are OCD (like me), then go ahead and try listing them in order and/or schedule them by time. Just keep in mind that it probably won't go exactly as planned and you'll need to be ok with that (a hard lesson I've had to learn).
Here are some templates that I found online that will be very helpful.
~ http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1605252/Blank-Daily-Schedule (use the little printer icon at the top right in order for it to print correctly)
~ http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/schedules.html (this page is loaded with so many different great planner pages...you'll need to download them when you're ready to print)
~ http://www.lisawhelchel.com/charts/Daily%20Schedule%20Blank.pdf (I love this one because it has four separate sections, so each of my kids and I can have our own separate schedules on one sheet of paper...my kids are still young enough that alot of our activities are all together, but for the times when one child is supposed to be in her room reading, another is doing her chores, I'm making phone calls, and my youngest is playing Barbie then I can see that all on one piece of paper! Who knew scheduling could be so exciting?!?).
If you have a certain way you plan your days, please feel free to share in the comments section. We're all going to have different ways of doing things, but alot of times just hearing other people's ideas gives us the motivation we need to get started.
Be sure and take a look at the section on the left that says "Quote/Verse of the Day". I hope they will be as encouraging, and sometimes convicting, as they are to me. I challenge you to commit some of them to memory...you'll be glad you did. If we don't equip ourselves for the battles we face daily before they actually hit, then it's much harder to win the war.
Hope you all had a great Monday!
I highly recommend you sit down before going to bed and make a schedule for the following day. It doesn't have to list exact times, or even be in any particular order. It just needs to be what you need/want to get done...and it needs to be realistic. I'm thinking that if you put "30 minutes of alone time with no interruptions" then you're going to be a little disappointed when it doesn't happen. And for those of you that are OCD (like me), then go ahead and try listing them in order and/or schedule them by time. Just keep in mind that it probably won't go exactly as planned and you'll need to be ok with that (a hard lesson I've had to learn).
Here are some templates that I found online that will be very helpful.
~ http://www.docstoc.com/docs/1605252/Blank-Daily-Schedule (use the little printer icon at the top right in order for it to print correctly)
~ http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/schedules.html (this page is loaded with so many different great planner pages...you'll need to download them when you're ready to print)
~ http://www.lisawhelchel.com/charts/Daily%20Schedule%20Blank.pdf (I love this one because it has four separate sections, so each of my kids and I can have our own separate schedules on one sheet of paper...my kids are still young enough that alot of our activities are all together, but for the times when one child is supposed to be in her room reading, another is doing her chores, I'm making phone calls, and my youngest is playing Barbie then I can see that all on one piece of paper! Who knew scheduling could be so exciting?!?).
If you have a certain way you plan your days, please feel free to share in the comments section. We're all going to have different ways of doing things, but alot of times just hearing other people's ideas gives us the motivation we need to get started.
Be sure and take a look at the section on the left that says "Quote/Verse of the Day". I hope they will be as encouraging, and sometimes convicting, as they are to me. I challenge you to commit some of them to memory...you'll be glad you did. If we don't equip ourselves for the battles we face daily before they actually hit, then it's much harder to win the war.
Hope you all had a great Monday!
Welcome!
I'm so excited to be starting this new blog, and am so glad you made it here to take a look! I hope you like what you see (or, in this case, read) and will subscribe to my blog.
While there are many joys to be had in this calling, life as a wife and mother can be (let's face it)...hard, draining, frustrating, overwhelming, consuming, unnerving (I think I've discovered nerves I never knew existed). That's where this blog comes in! I hope to encourage, motivate, help, energize, pray for, and inspire you to serve your family, while at the same time entertain you with the goings on of the blessed life God has given me.
I have an assignment for you, although it's more like a reward from your child. If you don't have one already, come up with an "I love you" saying with your child(ren) that is only between you and them. My parents did this with me, and I now say the same thing to my children..."I love you up to the sky and back down forever." Hearing my daughter say that back to me can't help but melt my heart and I temporarily forget that earlier in the day she cut up the dried rose petals my husband gave me 14 years ago, used markers in her bed that morning (I'll let your imagination run with that), just barely missed making it to the potty on time, and picked a scab on her knee I told her a thousand times not to touch so now there's blood on her sheets in addition to the marker stains.
It's amazing what those three little words, "I love you", can do! And saying them in a fun way that's just between you and them makes it even more special. I'd love for you to leave a comment and share with me and others if you and your child(ren)...or even you and your husband...have a special way of saying "I love you" to each other. If you don't already have one, feel free to steal any of the ideas you read here.
While there are many joys to be had in this calling, life as a wife and mother can be (let's face it)...hard, draining, frustrating, overwhelming, consuming, unnerving (I think I've discovered nerves I never knew existed). That's where this blog comes in! I hope to encourage, motivate, help, energize, pray for, and inspire you to serve your family, while at the same time entertain you with the goings on of the blessed life God has given me.
I have an assignment for you, although it's more like a reward from your child. If you don't have one already, come up with an "I love you" saying with your child(ren) that is only between you and them. My parents did this with me, and I now say the same thing to my children..."I love you up to the sky and back down forever." Hearing my daughter say that back to me can't help but melt my heart and I temporarily forget that earlier in the day she cut up the dried rose petals my husband gave me 14 years ago, used markers in her bed that morning (I'll let your imagination run with that), just barely missed making it to the potty on time, and picked a scab on her knee I told her a thousand times not to touch so now there's blood on her sheets in addition to the marker stains.
It's amazing what those three little words, "I love you", can do! And saying them in a fun way that's just between you and them makes it even more special. I'd love for you to leave a comment and share with me and others if you and your child(ren)...or even you and your husband...have a special way of saying "I love you" to each other. If you don't already have one, feel free to steal any of the ideas you read here.
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