Living

So this week we had no school...and since our plans got squashed at the last minute, I had lots of free time. I read a ton and cooked a ton. My closest friends will probably laugh, but I have found that I ENJOY cooking! Once you find the right yummy recipes, it is a lot of fun! I love having people try my stuff. Today I am making my own homemade pizza dough (a la Pioneer Woman). It's rising on the kitchen counter as I type.
I also had a lot of time to think...think about life (especially when you read a lot, and see how other people spend their days...fictional, but still...I also blog surfed, too!) I realized that while my life is a good one, I haven't been living intentionally, just living. I first started thinking about this when I read Organized Simplicity last November, and it's been in the back of mind ever since. We live, work, hang out as a family, I nag the kids to help me clean, we read together, play together, spend a lot of time together...but I need to start using my time wisely. I know that someday soon...waaaah...my boys and my girl will be young adults. It's time I really started thinking about that and weird to say, but I need to start getting them ready for the real world.

This post on the great site How Does She? got me motivated. I typed up my boys morning schedules (baby steps here) and we're starting that tomorrow. Then, I'll add the afternoon/evening schedules. I don't want to be too scheduled, I like my kids having free time-time to think, draw, play, be bored...the same reason I don't overschedule my kids. They get one extracurricular activity. Cooper is doing basketball and then, perhaps karate. Spencer starts water polo in 2 weeks and has only been doing the afterschool class of rockets and drama at school. I listened to a friend the other day rattle off her daughters' schedules: ballet, girl scouts (she leads 2 groups, too!), cheerleading, piano...and the girls are only 8 and 5. Whew. I got hives thinking about that. I know some parents love that, but not me. Having dinner as a family is more important to me. I'm also going to try the chores list again-I've tried quite a few, but found one here that I think will work:raisingahealthyfamily.com.

So anyway, back to intentional living: I want to use my time wisely...as a working mom, a big chunk of time is teaching. I started keeping weekly goals for myself in January (thanks to this great idea), but that fizzled out. I am moving that whiteboard to the kitchen, so I can see it everyday. I hardly watch TV, but will cut out more. Family meetings will be starting soon-I'll share how I decide to do it. I just want to make the most of the time with my family as I can. Sometimes I find us all in different room, me blog surfing or reading, the kids in the playroom or watching TV, and Joe working or listening to a podcast. That's fine-we all need a break sometimes, but I want to make sure it doesn't happen too often.

I don't know if this rambling post made any sense to you, but I thought I'd share for my few blog readers, so I can keep myself on track. Isn't making your goals known the first step? How about you?
P.s. My new camera is on its way! Canon Rebel DSLR...cannot wait!!!!!!! So anxious to start taking pictures again. My little point and shoot just doesn't cut it for me, though it's handy in my purse at all times!