And so it begins

As you may be aware, I am a huge fan of Ali Edwards (who wouldn't be?!) She is such an inspiring woman in so many aspects of life - creatively, as a mother, in caring for our world, in creating the kind of life she wants for her family. If you haven't checked out her blog you really should. I know that at least several of you reading this know exactly what I mean! Each year she challenges her readers to play along with the 'one little word' concept - choose a word you want to apply to various areas of your life and then set about working on it. Last year I chose the word enjoy, although moving house less than 2 months later pretty much scuppered a lot of my enjoyment! I know that for much of last year I spent far too much time worrying about silly things and wasting time over non-essentials that I really forgot to stop and enjoy my life. I even felt that way through Christmas - nursing sick boys, running around trying to get everything I thought we needed, worrying about how the house looked etc, and then before I knew it it was over. And I had forgotten to stop and enjoy a lot of it. So I've really thought hard about my word for this year. I want it to be something that could make a difference to me, to my family, to my outlook on life, and to my creative little self! So I unveil it now - my word for 2008 is .....

SIMPLIFY

This word reflects much of what I am trying to do. It is very much a part of my control freakish self - my love for order, routine, storage (IKEA anyone?) neatness and so on. Michael mocks me for much of this, but I think even he realises that my efforts to make our lives more organised and just a little simpler could have an impact on our family life. So, I shall begin. In small ways. Like not fighting with Conor when he wants to bring another huge truck downstairs to play with - it is SIMPLER to let him bring it and have him happy and then tidy it away later. Do you see what I did there? I made a simple choice! Well done me!! All too often, in my quest for tidiness, I will end up fighting with the boys over silly things that don't matter, so my first step is to stop that.

My next step is one you may be able to help me with. Or if not, do feel free to watch for updates and laugh heartily at/with me! I shall strive to make meal time simpler by making fewer than 3 separate meals. Sounds simple, but when your youngest eats almost nothing except bread products and grapes it can be a bit tougher. Yesterday I made one tea - pizza - and hoped for the best. Patrick loved it, I loved it and Conor ate nothing. He muttered something that vaguely resembled the phrase "Yuck, don't like it". Put me in mind of the Lou and Andy characters in Little Britain! So he went hungry. I would be very grateful for any tips any of you might have to help me along with this one! There are moments when I feel Dr Tanya Byron (she of Little Angels and House of Tiny Tearaways notoriety) is watching me from afar and telling hidden cameras exactly what I'm doing wrong! I have no doubt she could have him eating steak and baked potatoes by tomorrow night if I gave her the chance.

So those are just a few of the things I am going to be working on for now. I will try to post regularly with progress and other new notions I've had on the topic. I'm hoping to carve a bit of time to create something for my studio to keep me focused on my chosen word. I'd also love a bit of feedback from those of you that are reading this, be you regular commenters or lurkers. I know there are lurkers! I'd especially love to know if you have a 'one little word' and what you might do to apply it to your own life.

And with that I am off for a few last Roses before the serious cut down commences tomorrow! I hope you like the new banner - it only took the best part of two nights to get it working properly!