Damn.  The new year was just born and we’re already three weeks into it!  How time flies, eh?!

This was a pretty typical week at Chateau Ferrets.  Bug is doing increasingly better in her dance class!  She didn’t cry when we put her in the studio and she’s starting to actually mimic the teacher and follow directions.  I have to say, this kid totally inherited my grace, poise and rhythm.  She doesn’t have a chance!

Now, down to specifics!

Daily Goals:

I’ve stuck right on task with my daily goals! Not only have I cut out soda, I have significantly reduced my coffee intake, which I wasn’t even trying to do!  I simply opt for water more and more.  I am addicted to the Fruit 2O flavored waters and would rather have a bottle of that than a cup of coffee.  I do still enjoy a warm cup of jo every few days and I’m sure that intake will increase when Bubba is here.

We have been eating our family meals at the kitchen table, but I do have to get better at sitting down to lunch with Bug.  She is usually eating with other kids, so I take the chance to pick up, clean up the kitchen, etc.  I need to just sit with her and enjoy the meal.

We have also been reading a LOT lately, I just have to remember to do it right when we crawl into bed or head upstairs for the night.  We read so many books throughout the course of the day, sometimes I forget to make it the last thing we do before we call it a night. However, my goal with this one was to read to the kids more and I’ve totally accomplished that.

I think my blog posts have remained pretty damn positive and respectful, as of late.

Weekly Goals:

With the exception of completing an afghan, I have been knocking these off one by one as well!

Kids’ Project or Craft:

This week Bug and I made cupcakes together and the girls and I whipped up this awesome shaving cream/corn starch goop.  Em kept saying, “I love this, mom!  I love this!”  It was pretty cool stuff!  I typically let the kids at it and keep my hands out of tactile projects, but this stuff feels awesome!  It was easy to wipe off and sweep up, which is always a bonus in my book!

Recipes:

I whipped up a batch of snack mix (Scrabble or Chex Mix) and made some Bacon Ranch Bread in my bread maker, but neither of these are NEW recipes, as delicious as they are!

This avocado egg salad was seriously to die for!  I used Greek yogurt instead of any type of mayo and I would ease up on the curry JUST a smidge, but I loved this!  Cool, refreshing and seriously good taste!

I made pineapple chicken that literally just fell apart in the crock pot   It got rave reviews from everyone!  The link to the pin I used is broken, so I don’t have a website to direct you to.  However, this one is seriously easy.

Combined in the crockpot:

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup light soy sauce

2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins (I just tossed in two pounds of breasts)

Cook on low 6-8 hrs

I served it over rice and, as I said, everyone really liked it.

Things started going downhill with these breakfast cookies. The taste is awesome, but I didn’t spray my parchment paper and it stuck to my cookies like white on rice.  However, as I said, the taste is awesome and I will absolutely grab these on my way out the door in the morning, even if they aren’t “pretty”!

I should have stopped while I was (mostly) ahead.  I decided to attempt sloppy joes in my pressure cooker.  Again, it TASTED awesome, but it was too burnt to even think about taking more than a taste.  I do hope to try this one again, once I hone my pressure cooker skills.  I think I need to stick to the recipes in the book before I branch out!

Hungry??

Walk:

We did a huge (walk every aisle, some more than once) grocery store trip this week.  I mean, huge.  We were at the store well over two hours and did QUITE a bit of walking.

Self Project:

I made not one, but TWO of these awesome no sew infinity scarves!  I LOVE them!  I love how they lay, I love how they look, I just love them!  Simple doesn’t even begin to describe this one.  You cut the bottom seam off a t-shirt, you cut straight across under the arms and you stretch it out.  That’s it.  That’s all.  And it WORKS!

I made a solid colored one and I used a patterned t-shirt for the other.  I love where the design lies.

Relationship Builder:

I didn’t have the supplies on hand for what I anticipated doing this week, but I did take the time to sit down and put into words what I wanted my wife to know that I rarely tell her.  So I sat down and wrote out a nice email (which she never receives from me in our text inundated era) and zipped it off to her at work.  I know it’s just a little thing, but she seemed to appreciate it quite a bit!

Random Act of Kindness:

Well, I didn’t intentionally set out to do anything randomly kind this week, but I did go above and beyond for people, out of the kindness of my heart.  I did some extra housework at one of my jobs, I put in some extra time at another and I picked a few extra hours (that I really did NOT want to take, um 5am – 8am) because I know it makes people’s lives easier.

Monthly Goals:

I had a feeling this would be the area I struggle with the most. I envision the last week of each month being a scramble to fit all of these in. The wife and I did not manage to sneak in a date, I haven’t picked up a book and we have yet to attend church.  Bubba’s care package is filling up and I have some awesome ideas in the fire for February, but it hasn’t been sent.  Hopefully I’ll get that out this week, along with some afghans!

Overall, I’m still going full speed ahead with my resolutions.  I think a great part of me sticking with it all this year is my daily calendar.  I pull it out, take a look and see what I need to get done.  It’s a daily reminder to focus, center and accomplish what I want!

How are YOUR New Year’s Resolutions coming?