Happy Thursday! It's been a pretty productive day around here so far. The kids started back to school this morning which does wonders for my focus but I do really miss having them around.
Anyway, in keeping with yesterday's post here are some resources that I plan to use
to accomplish my baby steps goal. Maybe they will be helpful for you too!
Free Blog Planner from Confessions of
a Homeschooler. This thing is gorgeous! I just started using it but I like that
I can plan out what I'm going to write rather than waiting for the mood to
strike.
Gratitude Journal from Motherhood on a
Dime. I'm writing mine in a Word doc on my computer, but if you're looking for a nice way to get
started, this 30 day journal may be just the thing!
Speaking of gratitude journals - I haven't read One Thousand Gifts yet, but it's on my list. The devotional looks really good too.
Week-At-A-Glance Calendar by Amy Bayliss. I'm using this
now and I love it! It's a Word doc so you can customize it to fit your needs. I love being able to check off each task as it's done.
Scheduling
Like I said in an earlier post, I tend to go through the day on autopilot so purposely scheduling time to work on the baby steps is critical for me. It's something I've resisted doing in the past but it's actually been a lifesaver lately on my busy/tired/cranky days. I've already done all the hard work getting it set up so I can just glance and see what's next on the list and check it off. Minimal brain work needed, just like I like it!
What do you use to help you stay on task? Do you have a Pinterest page? Link it up in the comments, I'd love to check it out!
Here's a quick list of some of my goals for this year:
Spiritual:
To give my all (heart, soul, body, mind) to God
Morning bible study (Good Morning Girls - we'll be studying Luke, click to join!)
Maintain a gratitude journal
Career:
To stay home with my kids
To make money from home
To be creative
To help others
Physical:
To become healthier (Yes, I know I need to be more specific but my high school reunion is in 6 months so at least I'm properly motivated!)
Personal:
Stop being afraid - Seriously, this is a big one for me, I have a long list of fears to give to God!
Take risks
Blog 5x week (so far so good)
Other:
Move to a home where we can host family & friends
The Plan
So much of my time is spent on autopilot. There's very little time where I intentionally focus on "how" I want to achieve the "what" that I want. I plan to spend a small chunk of time (10-15 minutes) each day focusing on moving some aspect of each area forward.
If I was a graphic designer this is where I'd drop in an awesome diagram or infographic that would beautifully & concisely explain what I have in mind but since I'm not you'll have to settle for using your imagination...sorry!
In a nutshell, I've listed my goals and then broken them down into smaller pieces and linked an action to each item. For example, we're thinking of moving at the end of the school year. A huge task, right? So I've listed all the things we need to do beforehand and that I can act on now. Things like:
Create a moving binder where I can keep all the information in a consolidated place
Go room by room and decide what we will keep/sell/donate/trash
Decide how we will move our stuff (pay someone, rent a truck, PODs)
Then I break it down into smaller action items:
Buy a binder -> find or create check lists -> add items as I go
Designate bins for sell & donate items -> choose room (or closet, dresser, drawer - whatever I have time for) and begin making decisions
Research different moving methods -> narrow down 1 or 2 we like best -> contact for quotes
As I was going through my closet making decisions I ran across several rolls of film that were never developed (yikes!) and some loose pictures. So I added getting the pictures developed to my To Do list and set up a box for all loose pictures to go into that I may find in other rooms. The next day I researched the cheapest place to have our prints digitized.
I may not have the time or budget to take on a major project, but by breaking it down into small bite-sized pieces I can easily make sure that every day I am doing something to move closer to my goal.
I like to write things down so I can reference them later but if you're more of a free spirit you can always just say to yourself, "what can I do right now that would make an impact?".
Tomorrow I'll post about how scheduling has really helped me with this process and link to some of the tools I'm using to get it done!
I'll leave you with a little clip from the movie What about Bob explaining baby steps...enjoy.
P.S. Honey if you're reading this - you, me and the couch have a date night to watch this movie this weekend. I'll get the snacks ready...
Wow, it's been a while since I posted! I seem to have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I love to post and read comments and look back to see things we've done, but sometimes it feels like homework if you know what I mean... I want to do it, but I don't want to feel obligated to do it. And truthfully, I'm not, the only person that makes me feel that way is me. Does anyone else go through this or am I alone on the train to Crazytown?
The bigger problem is the tendency to want to do things perfectly or not at all. I am an all or nothing kind of girl. Worst.trait.ever - I make myself nuts with this one! If I don't have the time/energy/pictures ready just the way I want them, it makes it easy for me to say I'll just do it later. The problem is when 'later' comes I still have the same problems, but now it's a bit easier to push it off. It's the same way with crafting, dieting, cleaning, etc. But ironically, not with organizing and a few other things. I'm weird. My kids are always telling me, "Mom, it doesn't have to be perfect!" and they are right.
(The other problem is that I'm surrounded and outnumbered by animals. At any given moment something is pooping, gagging, chewing or any number of distracting things somewhere in my house...sigh. Right now I can hear the delightful sounds of the cat upchucking a hairball in the basket on top of my fridge - jealous?)
Thankfully, two of the cats will be moving on to a new home on Sunday YAY!
So where was I? Oh, yes, perfection... So, I know what the problem is and in the immortal words of G.I. Joe, "Knowing is half the battle!"
And the other half? Well, there's some hilarious answers to that on Google, but for me it's baby steps. I.E. maybe I don't have the time/mental fortitude to write a blog post, but I CAN start a draft to lay out some thoughts, or it's too chaotic to sweep and mop the entire house right now but I CAN do the area that's bugging me the most....that kind of thing.
Have you heard the expression, 'You can't see the forest for the trees.'? My amazing husband is a 'forest' kind of guy. He sees the big picture even if the details are a bit fuzzy. On the other hand I am a 'trees' person. I get overwhelmed if I try to take it all on and prefer to focus on the smaller details. For some reason I forget this sometimes and think I can take on the forest. That's when I run into problems. Knowing this, I can set my tasks/goals in small increments (baby steps) and be happy with what I've accomplished rather than trying to get it all done perfectly at once.
You'll know if it works if I keep posting regularly. If not I'm probably lost in the forest watching cartoons from the '80's or cleaning up cat puke to justify putting it off... Feel free to send out a search party!
What about you? Are you a 'forest' or 'trees' person? Remember "Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey"? Oops, I just spent a while getting distracted over there - but we'll save my ADD issues for another day...
Last year when we were homeschooling I REALLY wanted to take the kids to our local park's Pioneer Day to see a picture of life in the 1800's. Unfortunately, we missed it then so when I found out it was this weekend there was no way we were going to miss it again!
How cool is that? Well, most of the area apparently had the same idea so... it was quite a trek to get from where we had to park to the event, but the scenery was beautiful and a little exercise never hurt!
The kids had a good time exploring the different forms of shelter that Pioneers and Native Americans lived in, from huts to tents to cabins. It was too crowded to get pictures of all of them but here's one they liked (but wouldn't want to live in long term):
There was a battle re-enactment that was really loud exciting and they even had a cannon!
I know it's November, but we're in Texas so it was hot. Seriously, I don't know how they wore all those clothes without melting!
After the battle was won we went to see what else we could find there. B got her face painted and made a bonnet so she looked like some sort of Pioneer/Indian hybrid...
This is her right before she broke into an impromptu jig on the stage. Hopefully, I can figure out how to post the video, it was great!
They had some period musicians that were fun to hear. No more dancing though...
We missed a few things like making corn husk dolls, candle making, and the covered wagon but we had such a good time. There was tons of stuff to do!
After all the fun, the 'Hayride to the Parking Lot' sign was truly a sight for sore eyes. If you know me, you know that I am perpetually in flip flops which is probably not the best idea for traipsing through the woods but that's just how I roll, so there it is.
But that's not all - we're going back in December for An Old Fashioned Christmas! Here's a picture of my handsome hubby trying to control his excitement. Sorry babe, I couldn't resist!
Happy Election Day! The girls and I were discussing last night what they've learned in school about the election and to my surprise both said that their classes had not discussed it at all...WHAT?? How can this be? Soooo, considering that the school was going to be a polling place today with large crowds expected and since they hadn't learned anything about the election in school, we decided we'd stay home and do our own election lessons!
I waited until this morning to surprise them and they were so excited! We watched some videos I found on BrainPOP Jr. and played games and did quizzes there. We talked about the qualifications for president and how the electoral college works. B wrote about what she would do if she were president (hint: it involves 1,465 puppies and an equal amount of cats).
B had gone with us to early vote a few weeks ago so she decided that she wanted to hold a mock election of her own, complete with campaign posters and speeches. A didn't want to run so the candidates were B, Mom, Desiree (her bunny), and WIQ (aka Phillip).
Here are 3 of the posters, I didn't get a picture of mine but I can assure you it was spectacular... B's is the one on the far left, Desiree in the center, and WIQ's is on the right.
Next we gave our campaign speeches. I ran on a platform of hot meals and free hugs, B promised to give everyone the shelter dog or cat of their choice, and I can't remember the other two. I'm pretty certain it involved animals though.
No good election would be complete without an old-school ballot box so of course we had to make one! If you look closely you can see WIQ & Desiree in the background along with our "ballots". Here's a closer view:
So after all the votes were tallied the final results were:
President - B
Vice President - Mom
Best Poster - B
Best Speech - B
Class President - WIQ
Semester President - Desiree
I didn't get a picture but we also made a polling place (complete with line) and ballot box out of Legos.
We had so much fun! I love that my kids want to learn and enjoy the learning process. We're not done yet either - tonight once the exit poll numbers start coming in we're going to color the states red or blue. In fact, she's bugging me to get the maps ready so I'd better wrap this up...
So that was our election day experience, what did you do for election day?
Have you seen this? If not, go over to Life Rearranged and check it out! It looks like so much fun and what better way to brighten your day than to make someone else's day better!
It starts Monday so unless I'm starting a new job (praying!) I'll be back to post about what we've done...
B wanted to do a nativity-themed trunk for our first trunk or treat with her beloved doll WIQ (which is pronounced "Phillip" in case you were wondering) starring as the baby Jesus and a 'Jesus loves you and me' poster that she made herself.
We decided to go handmade with her angel costume so I found a fabulous tutorial at Maker Mama to make angel wings out of paper plates! Can I just take a moment to say how much I love the interwebs...I could never think up this stuff on my own. They turned out great and for the 10 minutes or so that she actually wore them we got several complements, not bad for $0! You can also see her halo that I made with some pipe cleaners and a headband. I thought she might not like it but she thought it was perfect so who am I to argue with that!
I was running the Plinko game (remember that one?) so I ended up doing about 300 squats over the course of the evening. It was so busy I didn't even realize it until the end of the night when I was hoarse and sore. Hopefully it will help make up for all the Butterfingers I ate earlier in the day...
A, my oldest, passed out the candy and punched holes in each child's card that came by. A few times I caught myself saying "Ok, go over there so she can punch you and give you candy!". I don't think anyone noticed though. :-)
At the end of the night we had a great time, burned or consumed many calories and most importantly showed several hundred of our neighbors the love of Christ. I have no idea what we'll do next year but this year was probably my favorite so far.
