New Years Resolutions

As I'm making these seemingly ridiculous lists of resolutions for the coming year, I'm realizing that many of these things have already been set as intention and are beginning to become a part of my reality.

So, this (extremely detailed) list is not meant to hold me to some impossible new standard of living beginning tomorrow, full force, but to put into the universe the energy of intention and focus within myself to grow and develop these things gently and lovingly in their own time.

And actually, all of the things listed here could probably be summed up with one simple phrase:

THIS YEAR, I'M TUNING IN...

Daily:

Play with the kids
Do a daily activity (craft, game, lessons, science experiments, cooking, etc.)
Have specified responsibility charts for everyone in the family
Have a relaxed but reliable daily routine
Institute a reasonable bedtime for the kids
Spend some quality alone time with my husband every night
Read with the kids every day and at bedtime
Drink Kombucha
Drink Kefir
Drink herbal tea
Prepare & eat healthful meals for our family
Meditate/practice yoga morning and night
Watch or read the news every day
Go for a walk morning and evening
Look at the sky, day and night (preferably sunrise and sunset)

Weekly:

Completely clean the house (sweep, mop, vacuum, bathrooms, etc)
Have a date night with my hubby
Have a dedicated family day together
Have a movie night in
Have a family game night
Have an educational or fun outing (park, museum, library)
Have in home play dates with friends
Call my parents
Visit a farmers market

Monthly:

Celebrate new moon and full moon
Spend a day at the spa
Have a manicure and pedicure
Have a full body massage
Have a potluck dinner party with friends
Go on a weekend camping trip

Seasonally:

Purge the house of no longer needed items
Research holiday traditions and create new and meaningful family celebrations
Fully learn, explore, experience, and appreciate each season
Visit with out of town family


Overall:

For me:
Remember to trust my instincts
Get more organized
Learn to make Kombucha and Kefir
Learn to make naturally fermented veggies
Learn to make homemade breads and cheeses
Grow our own food & herbs
Move forward with Photography & Crafting, from hobbies to income
Get better at keeping up with things!!!

With Steve:
Learn new and better communication skills
Be more compassionate
Be more patient & understanding
Be more loving & caring
Be more romantic! ;)

With Trinity:
Cook our way through The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook
Take her to a farm to milk a cow
Become a better listener
Talk to her more
Sing with her

With JaJa:
Take her to a dance class
Get better at gently loving her through her meltdowns
Model a calm and peaceful attitude to be a better example for her
Talk to her more often
Dance with her

It's pretty clear that my focus for the year is on building a healthy family and home life, getting more in touch with each other, nature, and self.

Happy New Year!

One of the (many) things I want to focus on in this coming year is creating meaningful holiday & family traditions for my children. Not only to provide them with warm and fuzzy childhood memories, but also to give them a sense of meaning throughout their lives, for the things that we celebrate, and the reasons why...
Ritual is an important part of creating meaning in life, but ritual without an understanding of the meaning behind it, is just a pointless and superficial performance of some of our most time honored traditions.

When I was a kid, we always had a bonfire, sometimes burning the Christmas Tree, and did fireworks all hours of the night. And on New Years Day, my mom always cooked black eyed peas and cabbage, but I never really knew why.

So, starting with the New Year, I did a little research to see how different cultures and traditions are ringing in the New Year around the world and throughout the ages.

Here are some interesting links, hope you find something fun for your family to celebrate!

A Brief History of the New Year Holiday

New Year Traditions Around the World

Saying "Happy New Year" in other languages

Snopes List of New Years Superstitions

World's Strangest New Years Traditions

The Rose Parade

The Rose Bowl

Lucky Foods for the New Year

The History of "Auld Lang Syne"

"Auld Lang Syne" Lyrics:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

(No wonder people just mutter through until they get to 'auld lang syne')

A couple other small article summaries:
English Zone
Mealtime.Org

And finally, a wikipedia article or two for good measure:
Wikipedia/New Year's Eve
Wikipedia/New Year's Day

Happy New Year Everyone!

Winter Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse

The Lunar Eclipse tonight provides a great learning opportunity for us homeschoolers, since we can sleep all day tomorrow if we so choose, we can stay up all night (or get up in the middle of the night) to let the kids witness first hand this cool event!

I know we are planning to be up for this tonight, with camera at the ready hopefully to get some cool pictures.

Here are some links to some interesting info about tonight's eclipse, and general eclipse info:


Article: Lunar eclipse could boost underdog meteor shower


How to Watch the Dec. 20 Total Lunar Eclipse


Top 10 Lunar Eclipse Facts

The Best Leonid Meteor Shower Photos

Enjoy!

Facebook Badge

I just learned to make a facebook badge!
It's for my husbands fan page, and facebook actually did all the hard stuff,
but maybe one day I'll learn to make my own badge, or some lovely volunteer with make one for me??? ;)

Simple-Needs Home Repair (Dallas, TX)

Promote Your Page Too

why i love three year olds

she comes over to me and says, "i'm gonna dress up as a human"...

so a little later, she comes downstairs, with a tutu on, and invites me to come eat at their restaurant. when i get there, she asks me, "how did you know it was us?"

as if that wasn't funny enough...

i 'devoured' the felt cookies and chocolate dipped strawberries cookie monster style, and as i threw them, she picked them all up, then when i set down the empty bowl, she looked at me perplexed, and asked indignantly, "did you eat the fork?"

rofl!

three year olds are funny!