Quality time for Free

On of our goals, if that's what you can call it, this year is to spend time with the boys each week and it not cost us a penny.  Now, sometime we do spend money like this past weekend when we ran the Nashville Zoo 5K and went to the Circus.  However, that same weekend we all cuddled up on the couch, watched Brave and ate popcorn.  We were even making memories then.  What I will remember is that Noah is an M&M hog and ate all the candy, leaving Aiden and I none.  You can't blame a boy who knows what he likes.

 

There are a few other things we've done this year, like hike at Dunbar Cave.  The weather was a beautiful that weekend, which was unseasonable for January.  We took Rocky with us and he's not real great on the lease so that was interesting but we all enjoyed the time outdoors.  Steve ran the trails while the boys and I hiked them.  Aiden and Noah had both been there before so they were proud to show me the way. 

 

Our goal is that our boys will look back and have fond memories of their time with their family.  That when they are older they will always want to come home and that hanging out with their parents may even be cool.  I will keep posting some of the things we do so that you guys can hold us accountable.  Having fun doesn't have to  cost and arm and leg, it's the quality time together that will never be forgotten.

Aiden's First 5K

Wow, what a wonderful weekend for the Gambill family.  We had a weekend full of family time.  It was definitely a busy weekend but when I reflect back, I feel so blessed and am so happy to have had this time with my wonderful family.  As a parent, the opportunity to see you children so excited and proud is a wonderful experience.  I believe this was one of those weekends that Aiden will always remember.

Aiden and the flamingos

On Saturday the entire family ran the Nashville Zoo 5K.  It was Steve and Aiden's first race.  It was also Noah's but he rode in the stroller so I'm not sure that counts. Noah favorite weekend memory was the person in a giraffe costume.  I ran with Aiden and Steve pushed Noah in the stroller.  I was so proud of Aiden!  He was excited to be in a race and though he hadn't ran much, he really pushed himself to finish.  I think the excitement of it all was really energizing to him.  He ran the first mile and half without stopping, I even had to tell him to slow down a few times. Then we walked/ran the next mile, stopping periodically to look at the animals but we ran the last half mile to the finish line.  I was behind him at the finish line and in true racer fashion, he sprinted it in.  He's a natural!

Noah and the giraffe costume.

 

There are a few things about this weekend that I will never forget.  One, I will never forget watching Aiden weave in and out, passing runners like he was a pro.  I loved his confidence most of all.   I'll never forget the pleasure on his face when he crossed the finish line and I'll never forget his attitude.  Aiden had such a can do attitude during this race, an attitude that I hope he can take and use in other places in his life.

 

One funny moment worth sharing is when we were running through the bamboo at the Zoo.  Aiden says, "do they have Panda's here?"  I said, no.  Then he replied, "then why do they have bamboo, it's not native to this region."  My smart son!

 



Team Gambill

What a blessed weekend the Lord granted us!  I hope our boys remember these special times with full hearts, knowing that their parents love them and enjoy their company.

Starting 2013

Hello Everyone, it's been a while since I have blogged.  It seems like there is so much more to do but this blog always weights on my mind because I know someday it will be a great reflection on our relationship with the boys.

I thought since this was my first blog of the year and the first in awhile, I'd spend a minute catching up.  Steve and I have started the year with a clean eating diet.  It's been pretty simple for me but Steve is really struggling with it.  During this process, I have become more aware of what our boys are eating.  Just this morning, as Noah was eating his Lucky Charms, I was thinking about all the processed food they eat.  I opened the pantry and realized that if I threw out all the processed food, we'd have nothing left.  We have got to start teaching our boys how to eat healthy now.

I'm still running and Steve has signed up for a half-marathon.  I'm excited that we will have this to do together.  The whole family is going to run in a 5K at the end of January.  This will the be year of good ole' healthy family bonding.

Finding Balance

This blog was called The Juggling Act for a reason, because as a working Mom, you really have to find a way to have balance in your life in order to have a successful career, a good marriage and well-adjusted children.  I'm not saying I do it right, matter a fact, I question whether I'm succeeding most of the time.  What I've learned is that too much of a good thing, is never good.

I do have a successful career and I can honestly say, I love my job.  Part of my job is community involvement and I have several organizations that I am actively involved with which adds time away from the home to my calendar.  If you're not careful, the events and meetings you have to go to can get out of control and the next thing you know you have lost your balance.

Here's what I mean. . .in order to be good at my job, I have to feel like I'm a good mother, in order to be a good mother, I need to feel like I'm doing good at my job.  Get it, probably not, I don't always get it.  When I let my job consume my time, it takes away from my children and then I start to not feel good about myself and then nothing works right. At that point, I'm not the best I can be.  If I'm not careful, I can spend so much time doing family stuff that my time away from the office causes my work to suffer.  The unfortunate reality is that most of the time, it's our family that suffers not our work.  This is usually my case. 

A few months ago, I had been super busy with evening meetings and early meetings, basically meetings that crept into family time.  I just let it get out of control.  I was home with Aiden one day and totally exhausted.  My son said to me, "mama, why don't you smile anymore?"  My heart instantly broke and I knew something had to give.  I wasn't in a bad mood.  I was just exhausted and I realized my family was getting the leftover parts of me.   I took a hard long look at my calendar, prioritizing and even checking my motivation.  First, was it important that I be there or could someone else attend in my place.  I didn't have to do everything.  Second, was I going to these meetings because it was important to my work or because I love to socialize and I didn't want to miss out on anything. 

I feel like I have finally found my groove and you can not image how much better I feel about everything.  I have a sense of peace.  I can't be success at work, when I feel my children are missing out.  I still love my job and still want a successful career but when I don't feel like I'm being the best possible Mom, there's no way I can concentrate enough to be the best manager.  Hence, balance.  I know how hard it is to say, "no I can't make it tonight" or "can I send someone else?" but I also know how hard it is to live with the guilt of telling a little one you won't see them before bedtime again.  I chose balance because even good things in excess aren't good.  To much cake can be bad, to much food can be bad, and too much time away from family is really bad.   I think I could write a whole other blog on this topic.  This is what I think God meant when he said we must keep the Sabbath.

My Babies Aren't Babies Anymore

As you already know the boys were visiting family this past week.  I took this opportunity to do some organizing and cleaning of their room and their toys.  It's really hard to throw toys away when their around so I decided to avoid the drama and do it when they were gone.  Little did I know, I would have my own internal drama.

I started with the stuffed animals. . .we had tons of them.  A whole corner in their bedroom was dedicated to stuffed animals that never get touched.  Actually, Noah's the one who sleeps with stuffed animals, Aiden does very seldom. We have our Rudolph from Christmas, our Woody doll and Bob and Larry from Veggietales, these are the friends that sleep with Noah and he used to sleep with a small soft blue blanket.  I kept looking at that corner of stuffed animals piles high and thought, "it's time to get rid of some these." 

Little did I know how hard it was going to be to pick out the age appropriate dolls to keep and the ones to giveaway.  I knew I needed to give away the "baby" stuffed animals but my heart broke because this meant my boys weren't considered "babies" anymore.  I even  picked up the blanket at one point and held it to my face almost in tears. . .big mistake, little boys leave funny odors. 

I know each phase of your children's lives come with it's own rewards, therefore, my mind knows that the next phase is going to be special but my heart sometimes has a hard time letting go.  I did the right thing, I gave away the stuffed animals that were meant for infants, however, I did keep a few that I knew were special to them.  I put them away in my storage box to give to them someday and of course, I washed the little blue blanket and kept it.  When they returned home, as expected, they never noticed the missing stuffed animals.  I suppose we can't get cluttered down with what we don't need, we need to make room for the new blessings God will give us.

Reunited At Last

On my last blog I wrote about how the boys were going to visit family in Arkansas.  What I left out was how terribily my husband and I missed these little fellas.  Boy, was our house quiet.  It was terrible. 

Steve and both felt like it was Christmas on Monday because it was the day we were picking them back up.  My sister-in-law was meeting me half way.  This was honestly, the most excited I have been about anything in a long time.   I couldn't get there soon enough.

When I finally got to them, it was all I'd hoped it would be . . . those sweet boys came running in to my arms and Aiden wouldn't let go, while Noah was smiling ear to ear kept telling me how much he loved me and how happy he was.  Music to a mama's ears.