New Year. New Resolution.

2013

As I reflect on my 2013 resolution ,to BE with my children, I truly feel I made great strides in this area.  I would say that the resolution forced me to constantly be aware of what I was doing with my time.  The plus side of this was that there were definitely times I realized that I was making the wrong decisions with my time and quickly worked to refocus on the girls.  Other times, when I had to make choices to "get things done," I felt extremely guilty because I had made said resolution.  In whole, I am happy I chose to focus on truly living and enjoying my children.  We splashed in the tub, read lots of books, hugged, kissed, lived, and loved.  Hard.  It made me more aware then ever that my time with them is limited and that it is passing so quickly.  I learned that if I just show up they will do the planning....tea parties, hide-n-seek, tag, coloring, dancing, cooking, laughing, giggling, and talking.  They showed me that my time with them doesn't always have to be extravagantly planned, it just has to be with them.   I find myself grasping, with both hands, to moments I have with them knowing that I only have that day, that moment, that memory with them once...and I am so thankful those moments and memories are mine.  Here's to living and loving in 2013...one moment at a time.

 
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2014

  A few months ago, probably at some point when I was on a "high" from the whole moments with my kids thing, I had a light-bulb moment.  In an instant I knew what I wanted our resolution for 2014 to be.  However, I knew that Man would have to be on board because I would need lots of help to plan and carry out this idea.  I sat him down, he got worried, then I laid it on him.  2014 was going to be The Year of the Great Outdoors.  His job?  To plan many of the activities.  He was game.  So, we began formulating our plans and doing some research.  Some things will be bigger adventures then others, and the goal is to complete one bigger outdoor activity each month.  So, to tell the girls about this year's resolution, we purchased everyone a new water bottle and the Eco Smash book to chronicle our outdoor adventures.
 

Because these books are themed, constructed, and  ready for pictures and captions I hope this will be a great way to quickly update each adventure for the girls to enjoy and remember along the way.  I see it as a great way to have the scrapbook effect without all of the extra work. :)






  Our first adventure?  The Great Outdoors of North Carolina.  In the mountains.  Happening tomorrow.

I will post photos of our adventures as we are enjoying them on Instagram @MAMABPLUS3.  Feel free to follow me there and enjoy the journey as it happens.  Otherwise, I will see you here on the blog.  We truly enjoy reading your comments and would love for you to post them on the blog so they will be here for our girls to have throughout time.  Feel free to leave us some ideas too!

 ----The Mama