Simple Traits Make Good Kids Great!

Hey Everyone,

I hope you guys had a great weekend! One of the reasons blogging tends to be hard for me after awhile is that I like my blog to be organic and be what is on my heart or mind at the moment and today's blog is no different. This morning I had to take T (Tony III) to the dentist to get impressions and xrays done for braces and I was texting with a friend. She was just talking about how T is such a great kid and that I did a great job with him even though I had him extremely young. The conversation got me thinking, I started to think about the different traits that we have instilled in him that make him stand out and force people to mention it to us all the time. Oh and just for some background info, T is 8 years old and will be in 9 in April. He is in 3rd grade.

Integrity: Very early on I talked to T about integrity and how it was so important for him to have it. I explained to him that integrity is what allows people to trust and believe in you. We told him integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

Respect: I was always raised to be extremely respectful of those around me especially around adults and people older than me and Tony was taught that too, so that was a given for us to instill in T. As soon as he could talk, we taught him to always answer yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir, etc when he is answering an adult. We taught him as soon as he walks into a room, he needs to make eye contact and speak to the people there. If someone says something to him, he knows that he needs to respond and be able to hold a conversation. It's such a simple thing but because so many kids don't speak back when adults speak to them, it stands out when a child does this.

Thankfulness: I try my best to remind T to be thankful and grateful for even the smallest things he gets to experience each and every day. I remember him being 3 years old and we would pull into a store and I would explain to him that we weren't shopping for toys today because he was so blessed and had plenty to choose from. He would always say: mommy I am so thankful for my toys that I don't need to buy anymore. Such a simple thing but it is a huge character trait that can truly change a kids personality and how they come off to others.

Humility: This one is always tricky for little kids but after explaining it to T, he exudes it every day. This kid is amazingly smart, he reads and comprehends at a 12th grade level, he has won the spelling bee two years in a row, and is truly a gifted athlete, but if you met him you probably wouldn't know it. Ive always told him, it is important to be proud of yourself and its ok to express that but just be mindful of those around you, that may not be at that level or get to experience things that you do. I thought it would be a hard concept for him to grasp but he has really mastered it. He tends to share his true excitement with us his family so he doesnt make anyone at school feel bad. He truly is such a sweet kid.

I think often times we thing that kids are too young and cant understand but they really can. I would always speak to T as if he was adult from when he was very little and because of that he can comprehend things very well and if you speak to him you think you are talking to an adult. Don't put anything past your kid. There are a ton of different things we teach T every day but most of all, the most important is striving to shine for Jesus each and every day. Explain to your kids that you are light and your words and actions can either shine for Jesus or dim his light. Tell your kids to be leaders and not followers and that their good will be rewarded even if none of their peers at school thinks so.

Get Fit Basics!

Hey everyone!!

I hope you guys are having a fab Wednesday, mine was spent at home with my oldest recovering from a 24 hour bug and baby Tayden messing up everything I cleaned lol. As you know from my 2016 goals post, I am working out again. I wanted to share a few things I really like to use when I am training and that I recently purchased or repurchased to get me back in the game.

Neoprene waist wrap and shorts: I order these from amazon. I use these when I am doing cardio at home. I am the kind of person that loves to get a good sweat when I train and I feel like these really help release excess water in my thighs and stomach region.

Fit Bit: I recently purchased this and I like this for every day use. Its pretty cool to see how many steps I am taking during my daily life

Polar FT4: I have had this for quite a few years and I am sure this is the older version of it, but I just purchased a new chest strap and batteries for it. I love this for when I am training. I love to see how many calories I am burning and keep track of my heart rate.

Water: this is obvious, but I love to drink tons of water. The more water you drink the less excess water your body will retain. I try to drink close to a gallon each day.

Sports bras: These are from Target and I love them. They are super comfortable and inexpensive which is nice when you are working out every day and need a ton of them.

Women's Health Big Book of Exercises (not pictured): this book has a ton of different weight workouts for different parts of the body. Great for beginners and even for those who are more experienced and want to incorporate different workouts they may have not tried yet.

I hope this helps and some of you find some of these things useful!

2016 MEMORY JAR

Hey Everyone,

           Back a little later tonight, my oldest son was sick today and I had to pick him up from school so now that I have both of the boys in bed, I have time to blog. I wanted to post a short blog about memory jars. I made a post about one a couple years ago and attached a link to a free printable for it. This year I don't have a printable but its pretty easy to make your own and decorate it how it suits you. Its still early on in the year so its a great time to make one and document anything that has happened in the first few days. 

           All you need is a big mason jar, a larger piece of paper taped to the inside or outside of the jar saying something like 2016 memories, grateful jar, etc..., and small pieces of paper next to it, to write on and drop in the jar as the year progresses.

           Every time something good happens to anyone in the family, that person writes it on one of the papers you leave by the jar, folds it up, and drops it in the jar. Then at the end of the year or the 1st of the new year (we do it on new years eve as a family); you read all the good things that have happened this year out loud as a family. Its a great time to sit and be appreciative for all the ways you have been blessed in the past year and helps you enter the new year with a grateful heart. I hope you guys make one, please let me know if you do. I'll take a picture of our memory jar on snapchat tomorrow so if you don't follow me there, please do (username: SheriGaskins)  

HELLO 2016!

Hey Everyone,

Happy New Year, Hello 2016!

I hope you guys are doing well and are having a great start to the new year. Whenever the new year is coming around, I always have the big debate on whether or not I am going to do new years resolutions or not. I almost feel like resolutions are almost a set up for not getting anything done. I decided this year, I will call them my new years goals. I am a big goal setter and I feel like it'll help me actually get more things done on my list. I wanted to share my top 3 goals this year hoping that it will keep me more accountable and also share some of the new tips I am implementing to help get things done this year. And yes (to the big elephant in the room), I am back blogging!! Time to get my ish together and stay consistent.

Ok, first Ill start with some of the new things I am implementing this year. 

       I decided this year I would make goals for the year, which I have, and then for each month make monthly goals. I think breaking down the big goals into small goals each month will help me actually reach my goals. Sometimes we make such big lofty goals but dont give ourselves a plan or direction to get there, so this is my way of doing that.

       I found some lists online that I have been using. I found them here: (New Year printables). The end goals one I use for my yearly goals. The new years resolutions chart one is the one that I use for my monthly goals each month. 

       Get a new planner or agenda. For me writing lists and being able to check things off when I accomplish them is huge and it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I also have set mini goals and rewards for myself for reaching certain points towards my main goal. These things are things that I obviously could get for myself right now but forcing myself to wait until I reach a certain goal helps me stay focused and get things done.

        This year, I am also trying to  work smarter not harder. Sometimes we get so caught up on doing so much and looking busy that we don't ever get anything done. Having two kids and one that is home with me has definitely made getting stuff done a tad more difficult. But, I realized I just need to change my mindset. Its not that I don't have enough time, I just need to prioritize and make better use of the time I do have.

Like I mentioned, here are my top 3 goals this year:

1. Get back in the shape I want to be in and also enjoy running and working out again. Before getting pregnant with Tayden, I was a bikini competitor and was training extremely hard like 3x a day, 5 hours a day; needless to say I lost the love of working out because I was being forced to workout to the point of utter exhaustion. And then I got extremely sick and was on bed rest for 4 months. As soon as I was cleared, I got pregnant with Tayden. So things piled on, my metabolism was shot from competing and then I had a high risk pregnancy and couldn't work out at all, so it has been a battle. I am determined to take it a day at a time and do things that I enjoy to get back in shape.

2. Being more consistent. This is pretty self explanatory but I just want to be more consistent with the things I have started. I tend to start strong but then I allow myself to make excuses to why I cant get things done. And of course, there are always reasons and things that come up but I have to prove to myself that I can get things done regardless. 

3. Stop being afraid to fail. There are so many ideas I have and things that I want to accomplish but I let fear hold me back from actually doing them. For example, even with blogging. I fear that no one will be interested in things that I have to say so I don't post. But Ive come to realize that I have to do things for me and because I want to do it and getting it done is a success in itself.

I hope this helps you with your own new year goals!