New Year's Day

Everyone slept in but not as late as I thought they would since they didn't go to sleep until after midnight.

Wake up was slow, cold cereal for breakfast, laying by the fire and just chatting.

The day flowed slowly all day.  C went home a little before lunch and then returned in the afternoon.

Everyone laid down for a nap at 1 PM because everyone was cranky.  Dad said he was going to run errands but when the house got quiet he fell asleep too.

Everyone was refreshed after our naps and we ended up playing some games and playing Wii for the rest of the day.  I knew putting everyone to bed on time would be a disaster so I took a bath during bath time for the kids while they played with Dad.

Around 8:30 PM, I started working everyone toward bed and by 9 they were supposed to be in bed but there was still a lot of up and about.  I was able to keep Andrew in bed because I was holding his hand but he didn't fall asleep until almost 10 PM.

I don't do Resolutions or try not to at least.  I try to find another way to improve myself and my world so I pick THEMES.  I try to put what I am doing into a theme so I see that I am working toward something.  This year I talked to the kids about picking their themes too.

First mine
1) Minimizing - this is really about the stuff around us, trying to clean out or use the things that are already in the house.  This can include gifts I have purchased but hidden and don't remember to give to food in the pantry.  The other day I found a frittata add in jar in the pantry that I had bought so I pulled it out and made it right then.  Put it in the fridge to warm up for breakfast the next day.  Check off 2 things - used something up and made a healthy breakfast which lead me to #2.

2) Eating healthy - we are already pretty good eaters since we are vegan but I also tend to use a lot of vegan products because they are easy and because it helps to make the food look non-vegan so others will eat it.  This year I want to decrease the amount of processed things I buy and use and lean more toward whole foods.  More about this project coming.

3) Saving - we have a couple big trips we want to take and the house needs carpet and new floors so we need to do some saving.  I also like having money in the bank so to speak instead of just spending to spend.  The minimizing theme will help here

4) Finally, organizing.  3 of these themes are closely related but this one is here because I want to teach the kids to be more organized too.  Teach them to play with something and then put it away before getting out something else, teach them that everything has a place - those kinds of things.  It will help me around the house and it is a good life skill for them to have.

Cairn's theme is independent study.  She wants to learn more on her own.  I am all for this!!
Skylar's theme is to become an artist.  Cappy and Nana bought her a sketch book, watercolor pencils and stump pencils for Christmas.  She uses them daily.  She loves to create and I can help guide her down this path with resources.
Andrew's theme (with guidance from me) is to work on being sweet.
The kids also wanted to pick a school theme so they picked Science - that means I have to get organized to make sure science is in the forefront more often than not.

Lots to work on but love the guidance and themes to help me.