Update on Sugar :-)

Well, it's been over a week since my last post and I still haven't had sugar!!! This is huge for me... huge. I'm not doing low carb stuff or anything... I'm still eating fruit, but I am not eating any sugary snacks or junk. I also am not drinking sugary drinks, which isn't as huge because I'm really not a fan of sugary drinks other than a certain punch I make and I just won't make that!

The really big test for me with this was yesterday. One of my daughters turned 7 yesterday! Happy birthday sweet girl! Anyway, I was taking cupcakes to her classroom at school to celebrate. I should say that birthday cake is my biggest weakness when it comes to sweets... I LOVE birthday cake... homemade birthday cake with buttercream icing... and this was it! Well, I at ZERO cupcakes! And I licked NO icing off of spoons and beaters while I was cooking. NONE.

This may sound kind of childish and silly for me to make a big deal of this, but it's really a big deal for me.

I'm not going off processed sugar permanently, but I plan to stay off of it for a little while. The cravings are a lot better than they were the first few days and my mood is a LOT better. Lots better. Which is a good thing :-)

So, I'll keep y'all updated as to my progress with this.

Soccer is starting up! It's going to be interesting! We already have a scheduling conflict... two kids have practice at the same time at different fields (different ends of town). Thankfully my husband can help me that day, but I'm praying it's not a sign of things to come!

It's going to be a great year!

What to say?

It's been a while since I've posted, so I feel the need to update :)

I'll just be honest about my life....

I just started typing up three different posts but couldn't figure out how to say what I wanted to say without sounding rude, so I decided to save them for later :)

Life is going really well! All three of my older kids are loving their classes this year which is helpful to a momma's heart :) Middle school has proven to be better than I expected it to be, which is wonderful! My oldest is enjoying it so far :-)

My mood, on the other hand, is not great. I have PMS and have stopped eating processed sugar... those two things combined make for one nasty mood. I'm not quitting sugar for good, but my sugar intake was out of hand, so I'm detoxing from it for a little bit. I've done this before and once the first few days of "detox" are over I feel much better and have more self-control about sugar. To clarify, I'm not doing any kind of detox program... I'm just not eating processed sugar and making sure I drink lots of water. So.... I'm grumpy!

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who I can be honest with and who will support me in times of grumpiness :) I just tell him what's going on and he is understanding and helps out with the kids a lot.... especially when one or more of them are driving me crazy and I need to step away for a minute so I won't lose my cool. That happened tonight with my 5 year old. It seemed she was on a mission all afternoon to push every button I have to make me angry... yikes! After my husband was home and everyone ate supper, she did one more thing... and that one more thing made me want to scream and yell and slam doors and basically throw a two year old fit... but I didn't. Instead I looked and my husband, gave him a "look", and simply said "I can't." Well, he knows me and is wonderful, so he went in and dealt with her (made her clean up the food she had purposely spread all over the floor) and I had a "time out" in my bedroom :-) After a few minutes in my room I was okay again and re-joined the family :-)

So... that's my life right now :-) Pray my mood will get better quickly, please! My family will thank you - ha!

Back to School Blues

I've been such a bad blogger lately! Sooo sorry!! I promise to do better :-)

I'm in a blunt and honest mood, so please keep that in mind when reading this post :) Thanks!

I'm saddened by the fact that so many parents can't wait till their kids go back to school. I do understand the desire for a normal schedule and routine... I get that... but when parents make comments about their kids driving them crazy and that they "can't wait" till school starts back... it makes me sad :( Don't get me wrong... there are days when I want to send all my kids away... we all have those days! So, I am not talking about the mom that makes a hasty statement on a bad day. It's just the permeating attitude of our society that it's such a wonderful thing for our kids to be away from us all day long. I don't like it :(

My kids go to school and we have wonderful teachers!! My babies are in good hands :) I am so thankful for that and feel truly blessed that I can rest easy they will be well taken care of. But I miss them. I LOVE my summers with my kids. LOVE them. I am sad when the summer is over. And I'm not the over-protective, hovering type Mama. I'm not that at all. I just enjoy my kids. They have their moments... they are imperfect humans... but the good far outweighs the bad. They are truly awesome, wonderful, special people! So, I miss them when they aren't here.

The thing that really gets me is that it feels so inconsistent for me to send them to school when I don't know the teachers. I mean, I wouldn't let my kids go to a friend's home where I didn't know the parents at all... not even for a short time... I wouldn't. I would take time to get to know the parents first. If I were to send them to a stranger's home for eight hours a day I'd be considered a bad parent. But it's perfectly fine for me to send them into a stranger's classroom for that same period of time? It just doesn't make sense.

So... what to do? For me, the solution is to get to know the teachers!! At my kids' elementary school I was a PTO officer for a couple years and during that time really got to know them... and they know me. They know I am an involved parent and I know that they are caring, involved teachers. I haven't had any trouble getting to know any of my children's teachers... all I had to do was make an effort.

I've talked a lot on my facebook page about being stressed about my son starting middle school. This is why. I don't know those teachers very well. But last night I went to open house and met them all... and you know what? With a little effort I got to know them some... I know that one of the teachers student taught at a school I used to be secretary at... and I know that one of the teachers has a sibling with 10 kids.... and I know that one of the teachers used to teach my nephew.... and one of the teachers is married to someone I know... and on and on... I showed an interest in them and they shared about part of their lives with me.

I realize this comparison isn't an exact comparison... I realize there is more accountability in a classroom than there is in someone's home... I realize that. It just still feels wrong to me to let a stranger be with my children that much. So, I make sure they are not strangers to me :-)

Okay... enough for my honest, blunt moment. My kids started school today. Can you tell? :-)