A New Lease on Life!

I truly love my children!  I really do.  And I love being with them, but after today I have realized something.  (I guess I've realized it before but it was reconfirmed today)

I am a much better mother when I have had sufficient time to myself.

I know, it sounds selfish :(

But when I have time to get a bunch of things done on my to do list, including; taking care of myself, cleaning the house, spiritual upliftment etc... I am more at peace, more patient and calm and willing to spend time having fun with my children rather than just nagging them to get their "stuff" done.

I know this is nothing new but I absolutely loved having that feeling today.

These are some of the things I checked off my to do list today:

 I went for a run after I got the kiddos off to school.  I only went about 2.5 miles but it's been so long since I've done any at all.  I was completely out of breath but it felt so good.

I came home and showered...yes, showered! (that doesn't always happen for me)  That felt great too!

Then I spent some time reading out of each of these books/magazines.  I don't remember the last time I sat down with plentiful time to study the scriptures and words of the prophets and not been interrupted by a sweet child :)  It was good for my soul.

After I was sufficiently spiritually full I went to the kitchen and made a keto recipe that I've been meaning to try for one of Ben's snacks.  They were almond "crackers" and you can see them stacked up on the left hand side of this pic.  It looks like I've got 1/2 of ten other meals premeasured and ready to go in the fridge as well.

With a little bit of time left before Ben got home I sat down and started working on an information sheet about Ben to educate and instruct his teachers, district nurses and paramedics in case of an emergency.

I even stuck in a movie that I had never seen before as I tapped away on my computer.

The movie happened to be something other than princesses, Disney or Star Wars :)

Ben came home and told me all about his day at school with a few signs, some pointing and the word "me!" that he's been using an awful lot lately.  It's so cute and I love that he is really trying to communicate with me.  It surprises me how much I am actually able to learn about his day.

His teachers say they love him and he's doing really well.

His speech teacher sent home a bunch of vocabulary pictures and asked for us to have him practice pointing to the requested picture when we set two in front of him.  I was amazed!  He got 16/20.  I did the four that he got wrong a second time and he got them all right.  It was pretty cool and Ben loved giving me high fives after he got each one right.

After I got the boys fed and Ben down for a nap I felt like I was on a roll so I went ahead and cleaned my dining corner that has had fundraising stuff piled high in it for over a week now.

Now it's just downstairs stacked up waiting to be used again in a couple of weeks.

I got dinner in the crock pot!

I have been so bad lately about dinners.  We've been eating out more than usual or having really simple meals.  I was so spoiled a few weeks ago because sisters in my ward were bringing dinners in at least twice a week.  It was so kind and so greatly appreciated.  It was kind of at a hard time with all that was going on with Matt and Ben and Josh and stress and our trip to Minnesota.  So they watched out for me and I am so grateful.

Anyway, I hope to be much more on the ball now.

I plan on doing a lot of crock potting :)

Any awesome recipes out there that I should be aware of?

After dinner was taken care of I finished Ben's info sheet, responded to some emails and sat down and read my "fun book" for a minute before the big kids got home from school.  

I was in such a good mood!  It was very noticeable to Andy when he got home from work.  I felt good about myself, what I had accomplished and my interactions with my kids.

There's still a lot of things that I'm still behind on...mainly cleaning...but my list is getting whittled down.  As long as I do what I can each day I will try not to stress out about it.

I know not every day will be this productive...probably most days will not.  But at least I know the potential and opportunity is there...and that feels good.

oh ya, I folded some laundry too :)