Gilded Living

My husband and I have made an active decision to say no to over-scheduled, hectic family life.  Our kids are each in one major activity and a couple of other classes offered to homeschoolers during weekdays. We guard our family and free time. We are not our best selves rushing every night and weekend, passing each other by, living our lives apart. Because we swim upstream in society, I’m often asked what my kids do with their abundance of free time. Well, some days they build forts out of logs and branches we have in our yard. Some days they make bird feeders. Some days they play video games. Some days they put a band together, have one performance, and then break up. Some days they make movie trailers or stop-motion videos. Some days they teach themselves magic tricks and put on a show. And some days, like today, they create floral faces. One of my daughters asked if she could walk and collect natural pieces for an art project last week. She came home and put this little lady

"A flower doesn’t think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms." We had a really busy weekend (24 fun-filled hours in Michigan followed by a lot of cleaning and yard work in preparation for my son's Confirmation and family party), and I was slow to get going Monday morning. I dragged my feet getting out of bed and told myself I’d get dressed “just after I finish this cup of coffee” more than once. But I did eventually get my butt to the gym, and while I may not have had the most energetic of workouts (my legs felt so heavy today...), it was still better than nothing. And I had a little bit of bonus fun working on this kicking combo at the end. (It still needs a bit of work...) This is your friendly reminder to set your goals and go after them. Be stronger than your tired legs, rainy days, and excuses in your head. The life you want isn’t going to be handed to you, you gotta go get it!  Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing