New Year 2015: The Year Of ME, and Other Big Plans

Where has the time gone? I really don’t know how I have been so busy and yet told you about absolutely none of it…I’m a bad Healthy Working Mom! But, on the bright side, I have a whole years worth of great stuff to share…and I will…I promise…I really mean it this time.

So, yeah, that’s what this New Year is about. ME! “What?” you might ask…”Aren’t you supposed to be all about the kids and family and all the things a mom has to do and making sure the house is perfect and keeping fit and dieting right and wearing nice clothes and working on creating the most amazing and super model citizens there can be and…?” Well, yes. I will be doing all of that. But I will also be REALLY taking more time for myself and focussing a little less on being supermom…and I’m not capitalizing that as it is not EVER going to happen and doesn’t deserve my recognition that it is a name…(storms off in a self-indulgent huff).

Quick recap:

Button had leukemia. Button is now a five year survivor….best thing EVER EVER EVER!

Hubby and I have had MAJOR problems in terms of staying together…apparently that is what often happens after a child had a life-threatening illness. We are still together and working hard to stay that way.

Peanut made the ALL-Star team in Baseball and is now in the Babe Ruth league.

We got a new dog, Pepper. He is a rescue from a puppy mill and a real mess. But we love him. And yes, he is eating kale!

Nana H is very sick with Lupus, Fibromyalgia and Myeloma. We are finding the distance between Connecticut and England so hard to cope with. We hope to visit her in the summer, but who knows if it will be possible. Perhaps two of us will go.

Both boys are at the Magnet Middle School and doing well. Button is learning to be more social but still misses a lot of school due to illness. If something is going around, he will catch it…poor kid!

And now about ME…I have a new business! I am still teaching full time but I began creating jewelry to help me stay sane during my son’s treatment. What do you know? People actually love to buy it!! I’m as surprised as you, but I decided to turn it into something that gives back to those fighting cancer. Butterfly Warriors Jewelry donates $2 of every sale to a charity (stated on the website). Button even helped me design a couple of the pieces. My work is getting increasingly popular and I LOVE what I’m doing. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I now have a focus that is productive and helps others…what a great feeling! I am not receiving help or charity…something I hated during treatment but truly appreciated. Pop on over and take a look at Butterfly Warriors Jewelry. There is a blog too! The website is very much a work in progress so if you like my jewelry but want to see more, I do have a LOT more on my ETSY site here.

What are we looking forward to this year? Well, I’m hoping we help Button cope with his emotional issues as a survivor. We have a long road to go with this but we are moving in the right direction. I will be posting about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the coming weeks.

Coping with pre-teen boys means my wisdom as a mommy has diminished somewhat. They don’t eat food anymore, just junk (my definition of junk anyway), and they have turned into lazy slobs. I will be telling you all about my mission to reclaim dominion of my household. New dishes to try, revamped schedule to keep the boys on track with their chores…all this needs to be done NOW!

Juggling a small business, family and working full time is not an easy feet. I will share my highs and lows with you along with the tips and tricks I pick up along the way.

So, just a taster of things to come in the next few weeks/months…

Great new healthy eating ideas
How to schedule pre-teens in so they feel they are in charge (a little)
Cleaning tips to brighten your day (and house)
Juggling business, home, family and health
and much more….

Oh, and you will be hearing a lot about how I’m helping ME…in many, many ways. As I always say, “A healthy mom makes for a happy home.” And it’s the year of ME. I aim to be happy and healthy so my kiddies and hubby are happy too.

Summer is Finally Here!

I have to be honest, summer came very quickly for this teacher. I am not saying that I am not ready for it, far from that, I’m exhausted from a very challenging school year. The year, however, really did fly by. I would say this was the most demanding year ever but also the quickest. Strange huh?

Anyway, school is over, and I am about to settle into the summer routine. Usually I am ready for this well in advance; planning summer menus, daily routines and activities for each family member. This year, as past posts (or lack thereof) have indicated, I have been a little busy. I am NOT in any way ready for summer, routines, menus, activities, or general time off with the family. I really feel like a fish out of water!

As I am becoming increasingly accepting of my recent fall from “organized” to “winging it”, I spent the first weekend of the summer vacation cleaning out my bedroom, reorganizing closets, organizing my jewelry (what a mess that was), drawers, and getting my laundry schedule going. I am very happy to have enough time each day to be able to wash, dry and put away clothes. The school year often consists of three-hour folding and putting away sessions on a Sunday afternoon…not fun!

I did get Button to the pool (Peanut was with a friend), and we swam together to get some exercise. Naturally, Button only wanted to play, so I had to mastermind some games involving multiple laps in order for him to feel Mommy was playing, not exercising with him. I think we spent most of the three hours there actually swimming. Chase, flipper races, Who Can go Furthest Underwater? and dive races all helped.

I devoted the next day to gardening – more exercise with the amount of weeding I was doing, and getting the plants into the larger pots for my porch. Peanut, Button and I are also about to plant some apple seeds…I am hopeful that my lack of green thumb doesn’t rub of on my boys, and we are going to grow apple trees. I have no idea how that is going to work out but at least it’s something for us to write about together.

Journaling is a big thing in my house over the summer. I like the boys to write but they are not the most motivated authors. Keeping a science journal is fun and a great motivator. My boys also think about hypotheses, evaluate data, and draw conclusions. I like to keep these journals in notebooks rather than online. I know some children blog and that is great, but I want to keep up the penmanship over the summer too.

Today was very wet! We awoke to a massive thunderstorm…loads of fun as we snuggled in bed watching the lightning and counting the seconds until the thunder-clap to see how far away the storm was. Then, after one disastrous trip to the fish sore (it was closed) later, I played “Hotel” with Button. This is a game of his invention in which he becomes a hotel owner who charges for each item I ask for. He then imagines getting it all and providing me with a high level of service and comfort. I, in turn, get to ask him about prices, and making change. We use play money and it really keeps him entertained.

So, when all is said and done, I have been quite productive already, despite having no plans. My house is becoming more organized, I am on a laundry schedule, I have exercised each day, my kids have been active, learning has happened, and everyone feels happy. Success!

Now I have to think about the weekly shop! I enjoy being able to shop more regularly over the summer so food and meals are often fresher and much less rushed. But….I lack personal inspiration at the moment, so I have to thank my wonderful blogging friends over at The Full Plate Blog or Jeanette’s Healthy Living have a plethora of yummy and healthy ideas for me to draw from. If I’m entertaining, I could even pull from my wonderful cousin over at Smitten Kitchen for advice.

So I’m off to think about getting my butt into gear with some planning. I like to plan, it makes me feel better. But I am glad that we all survived my completely random, unplanned weekend without any casualties 🙂