Getting Organized for Summer Vacation with the Kids

Jun19

Summer vacation starts tomorrow for my girls (ages 11, 9, and 6). I am looking forward to having more time with them (and hopefully sleeping in a little longer), and they’re looking forward to the freedom from school, homework, and tight schedules. We generally try not to schedule too many activities in the summer so we are able to enjoy some downtime and allow for spontaneity.

Without schedules, I am concerned about them spending too much time in front of a screen. To minimize these concerns, I set a few rules and went over them with the girls last night at dinner. They agreed the rules were all fair, so we’ll see how it goes. Here are our rules:

1. Two-hour maximum television time each day (this should allow for one movie)

2. One-hour maximum tablet/computer time each day.

I will make exceptions as necessary. They may also earn additional time in 20-minute increments – I haven’t figured out the details of that yet.

3. No screen time until the following are done:

Eat Breakfast
Brush Teeth
Brush Hair
Get Dressed
Help with Chores
The living room (where they watch TV) is picked up

As an advocate for wellness, I think it is important that they spend time doing the following activities each day, for a minimum of 15 minutes per activity (of course more would be better, but I’ll take 15 minutes to start):

Create something (write, draw, paint, crafts, etc.) I’m hoping to discover lots of fun summer crafts that I can share on here.
Read
Play outside
Exercise
Help mom (with whatever I need help with that day)
Chores

I have put together a booklet (free PDF download) with a page for each day of summer vacation. It is a daily calendar/to-do list that doubles as a journal for each of them. My girls love checklists, so I’m hoping this will work out for us.

My intentions are good, but things are always easier said than done. Wish me luck! 🙂

If your kids enjoy checklist as well, click here to download the Summer Vacation Organizer PDF. When printing, make sure to choose the booklet option in order to save paper (otherwise it will be 74 pages!)

Happy Summer!! 🙂

May Wellness Challenge: Get Outside and Exercise Each Day

May1

Happy May! I feel like this year is flying by! The warmer weather is finally here in New England, and I’m anxious to get outside and get the kids off their devices and spending more time outside as well. Unfortunately, they spent a little more screen time than I would have liked this winter.

So far this year, I have been taking on a new wellness challenge each month. For the month of May, I have decided to challenge myself to get outside a minimum of 15 minutes each day and do some form of exercise, whether it be walking, gardening, mowing the lawn, playing with the kids, etc. I’m going to challenge my kids to do the same.

2014-05-01 15.21.14 crop4

My goal is to do this 6 days a week, from Sunday through Friday. I will give myself Saturdays off because I’m a big believer in taking one day a week off from everything (and for me that day is Saturday.) I think we all need a day each week to recharge. I will probably end up going outside and exercising anyway, but without the pressure of having to do it and having to document it. (I always think it’s more fun doing something when I don’t have to do it.) I do take these challenges seriously and make them a priority in my life for the month, so Monday – Friday I do feel like I have to do it.

If you are interested in joining this challenge with me, I would welcome the company. I created this excel spreadsheet to track my progress: May Wellness Challenge Log Print

Or, you can right click on this image below, click “Save Image As…” to save it to your computer. You will then be able to print it out to track your progress.

In the event of a day with nasty weather ALL day long, I plan to follow an exercise video of some sort (Yoga, Tae Bo, Tae Chi, etc.) from my video collection or get one from the library, or even play Just Dance with the kids on the Wii. But hopefully each day will have at least a 15-minute stretch of time without rain so we can get the benefits of sunshine and fresh air! I know I certainly feel much better after I have been outside.

Today started off rainy, but by the time the kids got off the bus, it was sunny and 70 degrees, so we took the dog for a walk and played basketball together for almost an hour! The kids are on-board with this challenge and excited to participate. We plan to reward ourselves at the end of the month if we are all able to successfully achieve our goal.

Happy May!! May your days be filled with fresh air, sunshine, and all the good things nature has to offer! Enjoy! 🙂

How Daily Time for Creativity Can Improve Your Health

Apr24

“Creativity is God’s gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.”

~Julia Cameron, The Artists Way

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ~Pablo Picasso

It’s school vacation week here, and in an effort to minimize screen time for my kids this week, I have been scouring Pinterest for some good craft ideas. My kids love to create things, and I encourage them to do something creative every day (especially during school vacation.) Here are just a few ideas we have come across so far:

On Friday, my 11-year old decided to attempt to make a wooden rocking chair out of clothespins. She was beyond thrilled with the end result! She modified the original instructions and used popsicle sticks as well so she could fit her Beanie Boos in the chair. She was so proud of herself that she decided to make another one for her friend and she taught my 9-year old to make one, too!

Check out the complete instructions to make the original version of this chair at Crafty Corner.

My 11-year old also went to a cake decorating class on Friday and made this bunny cake for Easter. Again, she was super proud of herself. It makes me happy to see my kids happy with the results of their hard work. 🙂

On Saturday, my daughters wanted to make this cute rabbit fruit platter for Easter. I let the girls cut the fruit and arrange the design by themselves, and again, they were very proud of the final result.

Here are the original instructions for this rabbit fruit platter from Worthpinning.com.

On Monday, my 6-year-old decided to make this “Our Family ROCKS!” rock garden. She wrote “Our Family Rocks” on the big rock in the middle, and wrote the names of each family member and pet on a smaller rock around the big rock. She was proud of her creation as well, and now everyone who comes over our house will be greeted by this rock garden.

Here is the original picture that inspired us from Pinterest:

I don’t know what else is in store for the rest of the week, but I do know taking the time to be creative each day is good for the kids and it has many benefits, so I will keep encouraging it!

Creativity is good for our health, too! It can help us to become healthy in mind, body, and spirit. It is great for our emotional health because it is a great stress-reliever. As a result of less stress, it may improve our physical health. Creativity connects us with our source, so it is a wonderful way to improve our spiritual health as well. Here are a few benefits of creativity that I have personally found:

Benefits of Creativity

1. It’s fun! It’s relaxing and is a great way to relieve stress and get our mind off all of our problems. Don’t you always feel better when you just sit with a child and color? I find it therapeutic, and it makes me happy 🙂

2. Freedom! There are so many ways to express our creativity. Whether it is writing, cooking, baking, photography, drawing, painting, music, sewing, wood crafts, or whatever it is you like to do, there are so many ways to put our personality into our creations. In art, there isn’t only one right way to do something. Just have fun with it and find what works best for you and add your own style.

3. Creativity helps you to discover your true self and allows you to express yourself in your own unique way. When I started writing in my journal years ago, I would simply write about the daily events that were happening in my life at the time. As I wrote more and more often, I would get insights on certain things and I started to discover who I really am. I began to develop my own beliefs and form my own opinions on many topics rather than just believing what I had always been told. I also began to come up with many new ideas of my own and I started to become more passionate about many topics. In my writing, I found my true self. And in that self, I found God.

4. It keeps you aligned with your source. When you use your creativity, you are allowing God to work through you. Sometimes when I write, the words just flow onto the paper without me even thinking about them. It doesn’t happen every time I write, but when it does happen, I feel it is God working through me. During those times, they are God’s words, not mine. I felt that happen when I wrote my very first post on this blog “Secrets to Happiness on the Lifelong Journey to Complete Wellness.” I literally woke up that morning, and the words just flowed onto my paper in about 45 minutes. Then I got the idea to start this blog. To this day, that post is still the most popular post on this blog. It’s funny how God works sometimes.

5. Serenity. Whenever I feel stressed out, I stop what I’m doing, sit down with my journal, and write. Just me, God, and my journal. This immediately brings me an immense amount of peace and all my problems seem to melt away. I am sure this would work with other forms of creativity as well, whether it be music, dance, drawing, etc. Whatever your preferred method of creativity is, I urge you to try it next time you are stressed out.

6. A finished project gives you a feeling of accomplishment and pride in your work. When my daughters finish an art project that they are happy with, I love seeing them light up and filled with feelings of joy and pride for all the time and effort they put into the project.

7. It can connect you to others with common interests. My 11-year-old started taking a woodworking class this past year. She is in a scroll-sawing club, and has made new friends who are always ready and willing to help her out and share their ideas with her. Joining that club has been one of the best things she has ever done. It gives her something to look forward to, and is consistently the highlight of her week.

Making daily time for creativity a priority is a great self-care tip! I believe we are all artists. I love Julia Cameron’s quote above where she says “using our creativity is our gift back to God.” When we are gone from this earth, our creations will still live on. Our creations are our contribution to this planet and a true expression of our uniqueness.

As we grow up, responsibilities seem to take over and we put less importance on creating and having fun (I know I do, anyway.) I do take the time to write each day, but I also enjoy doing crafts and making photo books for my girls. When I take the time to do those things I enjoy and actually have some fun, I feel guilty. I feel like I “should” be doing something “more productive.” I feel like my house “should” be cleaner. I feel like my husband is working so hard to support our family, and I’m doing something I enjoy? Those are just a few things that run through my head when I’m feeling guilty about taking the time out for me to create. I need to work on getting over those feelings of guilt because I know creativity is good for me AND my family. Whenever I am creating something, I feel relaxed and more connected to my source and I am happier and more at peace. After all, when mom is happy, then everyone is happy, right?

I am going to make more of an effort to follow my own advice, set a good example for my kids, and make it a priority to take the time to create something every day.

What are you going to create today?

Overcoming Anxiety Through EFT Tapping

Apr4

“Energy medicine is the future of all medicine.” ~ Dr. Oz

As I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago, my 11-year-old daughter hasn’t been feeling well for about 2 months, and it has been causing her a great deal of anxiety. While we are still working with the doctors to figure out the cause of her symptoms, we have found a way to calm her anxiety. I thought I would share how EFT Tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques) has helped us.

One night about 2 weeks ago, my daughter woke up at 4:30 am in a panic. She said her throat felt blocked. She could barely swallow water, and she was terrified! I was scared, too, but since she could talk and breathe just fine, I knew the biggest problem was her anxiety. I recalled the nights of her waking up with croup as a baby. I remembered the cold night air always seemed to help, so I opened the door and had her breathe in the cold air. It didn’t help. I told her to sit on the couch and try to relax. We took some deep breaths together. Although this swallowing issue was brand new, she had been waking up each night not feeling well for several weeks, and I had no idea what to do. I silently prayed to God to guide me because I was at a loss. . .and then the idea came to me to try EFT tapping with her. I began teaching her how to tap. She was hesitant at first and she thought it was a crazy idea and she felt silly doing it, but eventually she followed along with me and soon enough we were both talking and laughing together. I taught her a breathing technique I had just learned the day before while listening to one of Tony Robbins’ CD’s (breathe in 4 times through your nose, then exhale 4 times through your mouth.) She got a kick out of that! 🙂 We continued to tap and she relaxed enough that she was able to fall back asleep on the couch. She woke up a few hours later and her throat was much better. She was able to eat breakfast and then went off to school.

That night, as bedtime approached, she got more and more anxious. I went to TheTappingSolution.com and downloaded the Tapping for Stress Relief CD (it is free!) My daughter and I followed along as Jessica Ortner guided us in the 7-minute long Evening Clearing Tapping and then the 8 minute Evening Affirmation tapping. As soon as the second one was over, my daughter was asleep! And she didn’t wake up once that night complaining of not feeling well. She slept through the night for the first time in weeks, and it was great! Since then, the Evening Clearing Tapping and the Evening Affirmation Tapping have become a nightly habit for my daughter. She has been sleeping so much better thanks to the tapping (when she does both of them…if she doesn’t do the Evening Affirmation Tapping, she usually wakes up). It really works!

What is EFT Tapping?

Tapping is a combination of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology. You use your fingertips to “tap” on specific points on your body while you think about your specific problem and voice positive affirmations. It helps you get to the root cause of your issues and remove the emotional barriers that are negatively affecting your life. Tapping has deep healing capabilities, and for those who have doubts about its effectiveness, it is even backed by science and research studies.

I first discovered tapping in February 2013. Somehow I was led to the World Tapping Summit 2013, and I signed up for it and immersed myself in it for 10 days. I listened to every presentation and learned how tapping could help in every area of my life. I was impressed that some of my greatest mentors like Cheryl Richardson and Wayne Dyer were promoting this, so I decided to learn all I could about it. Like my daughter, I thought it was weird at first and I felt silly doing it in front of the computer, but I became more comfortable over time. Once the tapping summit was over, I didn’t use it at all because I really didn’t feel like I had a need for it at the time. To be honest, I felt like I had wasted my time learning it. When the World Tapping Summit aired this year, I decided not to sign up because I felt like I still had no use for it and I doubted whether it really worked. Since my time is very precious to me, I didn’t want to “waste” my time on that again. Little did I know that a few weeks later, it would greatly help my daughter with her anxiety issues and help both of us to regain our sleep at night. Now I look back on those 10 days I spent in February last year and I can see what a huge gift that was, and I am so grateful I took the time to learn it. Everything happens for a reason, right? 🙂

Tapping is an amazing tool! I highly recommend that everyone learn how to do it. You never know when you will need it or when you can pass on the knowledge to help someone else. It is so quick and easy to learn, and once you learn it you will have that tool and knowledge for the rest of your life. I love the fact that anyone can do it, anyone can learn it, and you don’t need any fancy equipment. The power of your mind is an amazing thing!

Learn to Tap!

TheTappingSolution.com – this website has everything you ever wanted to know about tapping! It will teach you what tapping is, why it works, how to tap, and so much more! I highly recommend checking it out for yourself and giving yourself the gift of the knowledge of this amazing tool! 🙂

Peace & Blessings! 🙂

February Acts of Kindness Challenge

Jan30

aesopactofkindness

When I think of the month of February, the first thing that comes into my mind is Valentine’s Day. And when I think of Valentine’s Day, I am reminded of love. So I thought it might be fun to challenge myself and my family to spread our love this month by performing at least one act of kindness each day. When I suggested the idea to my family, they were all really excited. I’m sure their excitement probably had something to do with me mentioning a reward at the end if we were able to complete it, but I know the real reward will be in the experience itself.

Act of Kindness Challenge Guidelines:

1. I have made this Acts of Kindness Log for each member of my family to record our acts of kindness throughout the month. I printed it out for each family member and put it on the refrigerator.

2. Each day, each member of our family will perform at least one act of kindness and write it down on the log. My definition of an Act of Kindness is: any action you take to brighten someone’s day without expecting anything in return.

3. Each night at dinner, my family will share our acts of kindness with each other so we can continue to support and encourage each other.

4. When the month is over, we will share what we learned with each other and take a vote to see how we want to reward ourselves!

I invite you to join us in this challenge and spread your love. It only takes a small act to make a big impact. Let’s make a difference together! “Like” the Facebook page February Random Acts of Kindness Challenge or join the Facebook support group at February Acts of Kindness Challenge to share your ideas and inspiration. 🙂

Feel free to do more than one Act of Kindness a day. Don’t be afraid to write them all down. You may already do several acts of kindness each day without even realizing it. The point here is to become aware of all the good things you already do and realize the impact it has on others. You may also want to try to take it a step further and do some things you normally wouldn’t do. When we make a small effort to brighten someone’s day out of love (not obligation), we are rewarded with happiness.

As you perform more acts of kindness, you may notice more acts of kindness being performed toward you. Learn to accept these gifts with gratitude. Many times it is more challenging for us to receive than it is to give. We may resist acts of kindness toward us because we may feel like we will owe the other person, but when you let people do nice things for you, you are giving them a gift.

RESOURCES

Check out this link for some great Random Acts of Kindness ideas!

Check out this inspiring 5 minute video to see how one small act of kindness can make a big impact.

Check out the inspiring movie, The Letter Writer. It is a great reminder of the impact our actions have on others, and the difference one act of kindness can make.

QUOTES

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Jan27

We have a new favorite smoothie in our house! I have been on the green smoothie kick lately, but last week I decided to try something different and see if my daughters would give it a try. My 11-year-old and 6-year-old both loved it!! They have been finishing this smoothie daily and asking for more! Like many moms, I am always looking for ways to get as many fruits, vegetables, and superfoods into our diet as possible. This is an easy way to do it. This smoothie is packed with superfoods…bananas, pumpkin, oranges and pineapple! For a great resource and list of 50 superfoods, check out this link . Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think! 🙂

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Ingredients:

¾ cup orange juice (I prefer freshly juiced, but store-bought also works)

1 cup organic vanilla yogurt (I like Stonyfield French Vanilla) OR 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt and 1 Tablespoon Local Honey

½ cup pumpkin puree

½ cup fresh pineapple chunks

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice* (see below for substitution)

2 frozen bananas (make sure they are ripe when you freeze them)

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to the blender except the bananas. Blend until smooth.
Add the bananas. Blend until smooth.

Yield: Approximately 34 fl oz

Journeytocompletewellness.com

Update: 1/31/2014 – My kids love this drink and ask me to make it for them every day. I finally ran out of the pumpkin pie spice, and when I went to buy more I noticed that it was $5.99 for 1.12 oz. I decided I didn’t want to pay that much for it, so I did some research and found a recipe to make it myself. Here it is:

Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice or cloves

Store in an airtight container.

Healthy Replacements: Homemade Granola Bars

Jan8

Granola bars are a staple in my house. I used to buy a box or two every time I was at the grocery store because my family goes through them so quickly. When I decided to check out the ingredients list one day, I did not love what I saw. I saw a huge list of unpronounceable and unrecognizable ingredients, preservatives, corn syrup and oils that I had been trying to stay away from. You can check out the ingredients in a popular brand here.

I set out to find a healthier recipe to feed my family. I tried several different recipes until I found one that my family liked. I started with this recipe called Playgroup Granola Bars from Allrecipes.com, and then I made some healthy modifications so I could feel better about feeding these to my family. When making modifications, I try to minimize or eliminate all processed ingredients and GMO’s whenever possible, including white sugar, white flour, and vegetable oils. There is still more sugar in here than I would like, but I feel better knowing there is no corn syrup or dangerous oils or preservatives that I have been trying to stay away from.

Here is the recipe I currently use, and my family loves them. The great thing about granola bars is that you can customize them to your liking. Add whichever nuts, seeds, and dried fruits you like. My family loves them with chocolate chips instead of cranberries or raisins. Again, not the healthiest choice, but I still feel better feeding them these granola bars because I know I have carefully selected each ingredient that goes into them, and they do not contain preservatives or any unpronounceable ingredients. Give them a try. I’d love to hear what you think! 🙂

Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flax seeds or wheat germ (or 1/4 cup of each)

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (or chocolate chips)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup honey (local is best!)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flax seeds and/or wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins (or cranberries/chocolate chips) and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, applesauce and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3.	Bake for about 23 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

What Really Matters

Dec2

I came across this beautiful poem this week, and it really spoke to me:

“When I’ll be dead, your tears will flow, but I won’t know…Cry for me now instead!
You will send flowers, but I won’t see… Send them now instead!
You’ll say words of praise, but I won’t hear…Praise me now instead!
You’ll forget my faults, but I won’t know…Forget them now, instead!
You’ll miss me then, but I won’t feel… Miss me now, instead!
You’ll wish…you could have spent more time with me…Spend it now instead!!” ~Author Unknown

I feel so blessed to have spent two days of this Thanksgiving holiday weekend with my 4-year-old niece, Mya. I am thankful for having the opportunity to play with her, listen to her laugh and sing, and watch her run around like any other 4-year-old, for what might be the last time. She reminded me of what really matters in life…

Mya was diagnosed with a brain tumor one year ago, in November 2012. She survived 6 rounds of chemotherapy and was in stable condition as of June 2013. She spent 100 days in isolation while she began to gain her strength back. Her hair began to grow back, her appetite came back, and everything was looking great. Tragically, on November 6 she went back for an MRI and it showed the tumor had spread to different parts of her brain as well as her spine, and it is now in a very aggressive state. The doctors estimate she has 6-12 months to live. You can imagine how devastating this news was to her parents.

Until this past week, Mya was feeling fine with no symptoms. On Tuesday, she started to experience headaches. While at my house on Thanksgiving, she was experiencing headaches, vomiting, dizziness, and loss of balance. There was nothing she wanted more than to join in and play with her older cousins, but the pain was so bad she could not concentrate, even with the medication. Mya spent Thanksgiving night and most of Friday in the hospital.

This was the first time I had ever witnessed her with any symptoms. Living this experience was much more difficult than just hearing about it or reading about it. I wanted to take away her pain so badly, but there was nothing I could do. I can’t imagine what her parents have been going through for the past year, wanting to take away her pain, but feeling so helpless.

On Saturday, we saw Mya again at another family gathering. This was a much better day! She had no pain at all and spent the day laughing, singing, playing, and running around playing with her cousins. Knowing this might be the last time I see her, I focused on being truly present with her and really paid attention and appreciated seeing all those beautiful smiles, hearing her sing and laugh, and watching her play with my kids. Mya loves having her picture taken, and she loves being behind the camera. It was great watching her run around the house with my camera taking pictures of everyone and everything. I am thankful she had a good day and we were all able to see her in a good state.

Right now I don’t understand why this is happening to Mya and her family, but I trust that God has a reason for this and over time people will be brought together and many good things will happen because of her existence. I know God doesn’t make mistakes, and everything happens for a reason for the overall good, but that doesn’t make it easy to watch Mya and her family suffer.

My time with Mya this weekend reminded me of a few things. We all have little day-to-day problems, but when we change our perspective, we realize we are beyond blessed to simply be here. Every person and experience we encounter each day is a gift. We take so many things and people for granted each day and waste so much time worrying about the little things. In the end, the only thing that matters are our relationships– with ourselves, with God, and with others. We need to spend our time on what really matters, make the most of each day, and be truly present in everything we do.

Please pray for Mya as she begins radiation in the coming weeks to give her a little more time, and especially pray for her family as they prepare for something no parent should ever have to prepare for.

For the most recent updates and to view her entire story, visit http://www.fightformya.org. Thank you and God Bless!!

The Season of Gratitude

Nov10

Journey To Complete Wellness

Becoming Healthy in Body, Mind, and Spirit

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Getting Organized for Summer Vacation with the Kids

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May Wellness Challenge: Get Outside and Exercise Each Day

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