What I Accomplished This Week and Goals for the Week of October 8th

I almost finished everything on last week's list.  I am totally liking all of this accountability.  Even if no one really reads my list, someone might, and I don't want complete strangers to think I am a slacker!

Weekly Goals .... Week of October 1st (Last Week)

Family:

• Start Bible study with kids.  If one lesson counts as starting, then we did start.  I am going to have to give some thought to just how this is going to fit into our day.  Since the kids start school stuff at different times, it is making it difficult to work in first thing in the morning.  The fact that Marshall doesn't actually start fully functioning until noon is a hindrance too.
• Write Gene a love note.
• Check two things off the bucket list.  A trip to the farm market and clearance priced caramel apples from Walmart.  We still may make home made caramel apples!

Personal:

• Exercise four times (two on the treadmill). I only got on the treadmill once.  I did exercise four times.
• Lose four pounds. Ha!
• Three blog posts. Done, sort of!

Homemaking:

• Organize sewing basket.  So nice not to have to search in the big cabinet when I need hand sewing supplies.
• Complete living room list.  All done.  No cobwebs, all the movies are in order.  All the glass is dusted.  Everything is ready for Christmas decorating.  Now just to maintain.
• Put out Halloween decorations.  We even went shopping for a couple of new doo-dads.

Finances:

• Make spending spreadsheet and update.  It is eye-opening to see how much money we are spending.
• Keep Christmas budget spreadsheet current.  Just a few things so far.  Hopefully I can keep the budget under control this year.
• Menu plan around grocery deals.  Kind of amazing to actually know what we are going to have to eat every day.

Holiday:

• Nine squares completed and assembled.  I actually completed three sets of nine.  This is going more quickly than I hoped.  Maybe I can finish it next week.
• Complete cross stitch.  Finished!!!!!!  Now to frame it!
• Finish one gift.

School:

• Lesson for co-op on elections.  Done, Although I did not have to teach!
• Check in with kids' school every day.  Still a work in progress.  I did check in, but not in a very timely manner.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list. Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.




Goals ... Week of October 8th

Family:

• Bible study with the kids at least four days.
• Write Gene a love note.
• Check two things off the bucket list.

Personal:

• Exercise four times (two on the treadmill).
• Lose four pounds.
• Three blog posts.

Homemaking:

• Complete dining room list.
• One hour in each kid's room. 
• Clean two shelves in the craft cabinet. 

Finances:

• Keep spending spreadsheet current.
• Keep Christmas budget spreadsheet current.
• Menu plan around grocery deals.

Holiday:

• Finish afghan 
• Frame cross stitch.  
• Finish one gift.
• Two baked goods in the freezer.
• Fall gift for my secret sister at church.

School:

• Check in with kids' school every day.
• Figure out why Abby's French class won't record.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list. Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.

78 days until Christmas!  How is your Christmas prep going?

Happy Johnny Appleseed Day

Can you say "Good Sports?"

I love my kids.

I love the fact that even though they are teenagers they are willing to play along and do silly things, celebrate silly holidays, and enjoy being with me.

Attending a cyber school means that they spend almost all of their time with me.  We are all three at home together every day.  They almost never have an attitude, they do what they are told, and best of all, they enjoy having fun!

One of the items on our Fall Bucket List was to celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day, September 26th.  It was a pretty laid back celebration!  We ate apple french toast for breakfast, had apple pudding and dried cinnamon apple chips with lunch, and had apple crisp with caramel ice cream for dessert after supper.  We read about John Chapman on wikipedia, and we watched a Disney video on You Tube. 

As holidays go, it was pretty inexpensive and laid-back.  The kids might have groaned a little when I woke them up shouting "Happy Johnny Appleseed Day."  But, they got into the spirit of things.

Little things, done with a great deal of enthusiasm make for the best memories.

Especially for moms!

Weekly Goals: Recap and Week of 9-24-2012

Not so much progress on my list this week.  Apparently this was my week to make excuses about why I couldn't get anything done.  Ughhh!  Now I need to accomplish even more this week.

Here is what I accomplished last week:

 

Family:

• Make copies of Bible Study Stuff. Did not do this.  My excuse is that the copy place is in the Apple Festival area and I didn't want to have to fight to find parking.
• Write Gene a Love Note.  Done
• Check two things off the Fall Bucket List. Not a single thing. Everything we tried to do did not work out the way I had hoped.

Personal:

• Finish Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince.  I did finish this book and it was excellent.  The grace of God toward us is such an amazing thing!
• Exercise four times.  Actually did this.  I rode the exercise bike and read my book.
• Lose four pounds. Hah!  I think I gained a pound.  I have an appointment with the diet doctor this week and I vow to have lost some weight.

Homemaking:

• Fall decorations on the porch. Nope.  Went shopping for mums and was apalled at the prices.  I will have another go at it this week.
• Put away Abby's summery summer clothes.   One giant tote of stuff is put away.  Still need to get out the winter stuff and go through it.  As cold as it has been I think I could put away the capris too.
• Make daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning check lists. I sort of made a handwritten copy, but I want to make a printable copy.

Finances:

 

• Catch up on cutting coupons.  Done!  I had two weeks worth.  Now just to keep up with it.  I am making this an item on my weekly to do list.
• Write three blog posts. Just one post.  I have been having issues with my photo editor running on this slow old computer.

Christmas Prep:

 

• Fancy up the Fall Bucket List.   So cute!  I will be posting a quick tutorial for it soon.
• Figure out the afghan pattern I am going to use and at least get started.   I did decide on a plan.  I haven't actually started, but I am calling this a success. 
• Cross stitch for at least three hours.   Barely worked for three hours.  Still so far to go.
• Start a Christmas Gift List. Nope!

So much that didn't get done. We did have a great field trip on Friday to the Ohio Statehouse with the Homeschool Co-op with dinner out, thrift store shopping for zombie costumes, and frozen yougurt!  There were several visits with my oldest son and an emergency waterfall creation for my niece's science class project so I thought I had some good excuses!

I have decided that anything that doesn't get finished from the week before gets added to the list along with goals for this week rather than just forwarding things forever.  My list may be a hundred items long soon if I don't get on the ball.

Here goes!

Weekly Goals .... Week of September 24th

Family:

 

• Make copies of Bible Study Stuff.
• Write Gene a Love Note.
• Check four things off the Fall Bucket List.
• Check in with kids on school work every day.

 

Personal:

 

• Read The Five Love Languages of Teenagers.
• Exercise four times.
• Lose four pounds.
• Pedicure

Homemaking:

 

• Fall decorations on the porch.
• Get out Abby's winter clothes. 
• Make daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning check lists.
• Switch my clothes to winter.
• Make laundry soap. 

Finances:

 

• Track all spending for the week.
• Write six blog posts.

Christmas Prep:

 

• Cross stitch for at least three hours.
• Start a Christmas Gift List.
• Crochet borders on nine squares.
• Christmas gift budget.

School:

• Post about interest in high school breakfast club.
• Co-op lesson.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list.  Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.

Lots of work to do!  No excuses this week!

ABCs

Our little buddy James has been having a hard time learning his alphabet. 

Every Friday when we have Homeschool Day with our friends, we try to do a special project with James to help him learn his ABCs.
 
He pretty much knows all of his letters now, but was having a little trouble putting them in order.

I found a set of Jello Jiggler cutters that I probably got for Abby when she was learning her letters. 

They were unopened. 

She is eleven. 

She reads on an 12th grade level. 

Thank God for smart kids. 

I was obviously a slacker.

The girlies made the cookie dough for part of their home ec lesson and they rolled it out for him all nice and pretty.

James had a ball picking out the letters of the alphabet in order and cutting them out.

We practiced listening for beginning sounds and cut out the first letter of everyone's name.  We even made a B for the dog.

James made himself a special cookie with all of the letters in his name.

He iced them up and we all scarfed them down.



Yummmmm!!!!