A Weekly Plan {Jan. 16 - 22}

This will be my 3rd week following a plan for the week. As I said in my last post, the past week was kinda different since I've been sick for most of it. I'm still fighting the cold and really, really hoping I can kick it in the next day or so because I really want to get back to 'normal' {whatever that is!}

This is the weekly planning chart I use:

I did not getting dusting done this week and I only did a quick swipe of the bathroom ... but I'm OK with that. I DID call Keurig, the big thing on my list that I NEEDED to get done. And even with being sick I did manage to get quite a few things done.

SO, moving on to the coming week. I don't want to make a big to do list in case this cold lingers too much longer. So my basic goals and need to dos are: eat healthfully, exercise, get back to a good school routine with the girls and be consistent with quiet time.

On our menu for the week:

Breakfasts ~ Apple Pie Oatmeal, Mini Egg Muffins, and Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal muffins

Lunches ~ Corn Dog Muffins, Chunky Potato Soup, Sandwiches, and Ravioli

Dinners ~ Chicken Parmesan Casserole, Beef Pot Roast w/ Baked Potatoes, Pasta w/ Meat sauce, and maybe a couple other easy meals that I haven't decided on yet.

This week I also have TWO Blessings Unlimited parties coming up and I am VERY excited to do those!

I do have some other goals that I hope to get to. I have a bunch of stuff that needs to go to Goodwill, I need to order pictures for an upcoming scrapbook weekend and I {eventually} need to get around to painting the hall and the doors and trim again. But until I'm feeling 100% I don't want to be too ambitious!

OH! And tomorrow morning I am beginning the online Bible study over at Good Morning Girls. {There is a button over on the right}. I am excited to dig into God's Word and hope this will help keep me accountable to be more consistent.

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL week!

Our Week

It's been a weird week around here. I've been battling a head cold all week and instead of it getting better day by day it actually got a bit worse each day. So basically it wasn't the most productive of weeks as far as school goes, but we did manage to squeeze in math and language arts almost every day. Oh well, hopefully next week all will be back to normal!

The first 3 days of the week my hubs was away on a ski trip with his buddies. The girls and I had fun though. We did some school work, rented some movies, did a little shopping {since they both had some gift cards from Christmas} and also did a bunch of relaxing since this cold has brought daily pounding headaches with it. :/

Here is my beautiful firstborn ... she has an interesting sense of style lately that is truly unique. The past week or so she puts as many hair clips as she can find in her hair each day. It's kinda cute ... right?


And her little sis, working hard on her Language Arts ~ not her fave subject at ALL ... in fact many days this subject brings about tears. But what can you do, you have to learn the stuff!

Last week I made almost 50 new fabric flowers in some gorgeous colors! And I finally got my Etsy shop up and running ... SO fun and SO exciting ... I love to craft ... this year I vow to do it more.

I broke my 'no spend' January this week to 'splurge' on these magazine files and pretty file folders - found them at the Dollar Spot at Target and honestly, just couldn't say no. I justified the purchase though because my plan is to simplify and organize this year, so these tools will help aid with that. In fact, I spent a couple hours organizing some paperwork and binders this week and am LOVING how they all came together. {will have to share in another post}.

I drank a LOT of tea this week ... nothing makes me feel better like the way tea does. I rarely take meds for colds, but tea ... yes please!

Ahhhh..... I love it when she settles in for a nap ... she's such a good pup {when she's SLEEPING!}

We babysat our friend's daughter twice this week - let's just say that babysitting a feisty 3 year old when you have a cold is interesting. I'm so, so, so thankful for my big girls who played with her and entertained her with 'bobbleheads' for HOURS this week. And all 3 of them absolutely LOVED it.

My daughter spied this gorgeous bright red bird from the window the other day. Love this splash of color in the bleak wintertime!

We also did lots of playdoh this week. I'm so glad the girls got new, fresh, soft playdoh for Christmas. I got smart and threw down a cheap, plastic tablecloth so when they were all done I could just roll it up and throw it out!

After not having much appetite all week I caved and made a yummy treat late Friday afternoon ... Grands biscuits {red. fat} with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon - mmmmmm, yeah this was good. I hope the scale won't reflect that choice too badly this week!

Both girls did awesome in their Basketball games on Saturday. Joy made 2 baskets for her team ... {she's the one in blue}

And Hope made 4 baskets for her team. It was a great day and they are learning so much already. {she's number 21}

Then, this afternoon we hosted another one of our Balcony Girls lessons. It's been a LOOOOOONG time since we last met {the fall and holidays were so busy for us} but we had such a GOOD time together! Our lesson was on Unity and working together.

I just LOVE this group of girls!

So I guess all in all it's been a pretty good week. I sometimes feel like a failure on weeks when we don't accomplish a lot of school work ... but I see that we still had a pretty good week and much to be thankful for. I also DID finally cross off 'Call Keurig' from my TO DO list {which has been on my list to do for OVER a month now} and am SO excited to say that they have agreed to replace my brewer with a brand new one for FREE! I cannot wait!

Hope each of you has a quiet, peaceful Sunday. =)

An Award!

Awwww, a sweet blog friend of mine nominated me for a blog award! Amy from The Blessed Mom is a sweet friend who also lives/blogs here in New England. She's a wife and Mama to 2 sweet kiddos. I have enjoyed getting to know her over the past several months.

“A Liebster Blog Award is a fun way to recognize your fellow bloggers and get the word out about how much you love them! It’s specifically for smaller blogs and those of us who are just getting started! Liebster is a German word that means favorite or dearest.”

Part of receiving this award is the joy of passing it on to others! So here are 5 'little' bloggers that I absolutely adore ...

Sarah from In Light of the Truth is a Mom of 3 and stay at home wife. We're like the real life friends who never really met in person! LOL She is friends of many of my mutual friends, but she moved WAAAY out to Nebraska before I got the chance to meet her in person. She has a wonderful way of encouraging us to be present with our kids every day, yet often times will be completely honest about the rough days of parenting, I love that she can keep it real!

Mary from A Productive Endeavor is a real life friend. That just sounds funny, doesn't it? Like I have imaginary-blog world friends! hahaha Anyhow, Mary is also a Mom of 3 and to say she takes JOY in her kiddos is a HUGE understatement. It is a blessing to see how much she ENJOYS her kids, even though as we all know, parenting can be tough. =)

The next 3 are little bloggers that are getting bigger and bigger and bigger lately! So maybe they aren't so little bloggers anymore, but I get the biggest smile on my face when they post new blogs and just love 'em all so much that I HAVE to include them here!

Alicia from La Famille is just so super stinkin' cute. As are her kiddos. You have to see her latest blog where her daughter talks about marrying her Uncle - how cute is that? Alicia loves God and is crafty and I just KNOW we'd be best pals if we lived close by.

Jessica from This Blessed Life is another real life friend. In fact she teaches Piano and music to my kiddos! I love her! She inspires me to eat better, be frugal and love the Lord.

Lora from My Blessed Life is a friend that I WISH was my neighbor! If we were neighbors I can just picture having coffee together, our kids playing, sharing homeschooling tips and just talking for hours. She is a kindred spirit who I really hope I'll get to meet in person one day!

So there you go, my 5 nominees ... I just love the connections I've made with so many lovely women through blogging.

MYO Kettle Corn!

MYO Kettle Corn:

Use a large stock pot with a lid {preferably a clear one}

Put 2 TBSP of oil in the pot and turn the heat on high. Also put about 2-3 unpopped kernels in the pot, with the lid on.

While it's heating up measure out 1/4 cup of raw sugar and 1/2 cup of kernels.

When the kernels in the pot start to pop pour in the rest of the kernels and the sugar. Give it a couple shakes so the sugar doesn't burn right away.

The kernels will all start to pop - try to vent the lid just a bit by keeping a slight edge of it open to let the steam out. You can shake it a bit as the kernels are popping.

When the popping has just about stopped removed from heat and keep shaking it up until all the popping has stopped.

Remove lid and add salt to taste.


This was SO yummy and easy. We gave up microwave popcorn a while ago and I will never go back. Homemade is SO much yummier. Until today I had only ever made it with butter but the Kettle Corn was SO good and we all gobbled it up!


ENJOY!!!

A Weekly Plan {Jan. 9-15}

I am happy to say that my weekly plan from last week was a HUGE success! Yes, there were a couple tasks that were left undone, and those will be put back on the list for this week ... but overall having this list on my fridge gave a LOT more purpose to my days!

Once again, here is the chart I'm using ...

Last week I did FIVE days of exercise! Drank more water than I've had in a LONG time and crossed MANY of the items off of my to do list. =)

Here is my plan for this week:

Goals:

Eat well, Exercise, School time, Quiet time

TO DO:

* Get Balcony Girls lesson ready for Saturday

* Mail flowers to Tricia

* Call Keurig {didn't get to it last week}

* Mail out thank you cards {wrote 'em last wk, now just need stamps}

* Go to the library

* Register for scrapbook weekend

* Make photo copies for school

* Go to the bank

My weekly verse this week is the same as last week ... only because I'm trying to work on the Gentleness challenge in how I deal with my kids and I feel that the fruits of the spirit are something I need to daily ingrain in myself.

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." Gal. 5:22

My meal plan for the week is:

Mon. - Homemade Chicken Noodle soup w/ cornbread

Tue. - Turkey burgers w/ Sweet potato fries

Wed. - Awana night {sandwiches or something easy}

Thur. - Eggs and Toast

Fri. - Tacos

Sat. - TBD

Sun. - Shepherd Group

And that's my plan for the week. How are you doing after this first week of January?

BIG News!

I have FINALLY set up my Etsy shop! I have been talking about doing this for the LONGEST time and I finally got my act together and did it!

My shop is called Ranunculusly Cute Creations and yes I realize that's a mouthful. The shop is named for my favorite flower, the Ranunculus. =)

In the future I will have some shop giveaways here on my blog, but for today I just wanted to introduce it to all of you and give you a chance to check it out. Right now there are only 2 types of products; fabric covered notebooks and fabric flower pins. But don't worry, I'll be adding more and more stuff soon!

Here are a couple pictures of my items and the link for the shop is below. I'd be honored if you'd check it out and share it with your friends! THANKS!

Ranunculusly Cute Creations on Etsy

I am a Genius!

I am one of those people who is never very consistent with chore charts and such. We start them, we do OK, we get lazy and stop them, etc. There have been times we've had them every week, times we've had none at all, times when we pay a weekly allowance, times when we pay nothing at all. You see what I mean about being very inconsistent?!

The other day I got thinking and came up with what I *hope* will be a brilliant idea in our home.

Here are some known truths around here:

* my kids want to be on the computer more
* I need to get off the computer more
* my kids want to 'earn' for helping with chores
* right now our budget is really tight so I have no real means to 'pay' for such chores

So here is the plan ... for each chore they complete, they earn a certain amount of minutes on the computer! So simple, right?!

I have yet to write up an actual chart, and I might not even bother, but let's say they unload the clean dishes from the dishwasher, then reload the dirty ones - I might 'pay' them with 10 minutes of playing on the computer.

The beauty in this plan is:

1. I'm getting the help I need around the house
2. They're getting the time they want on the computer
3. When they're on the computer - I'M NOT! - which is brilliant cause it keeps me off it more often and doing other things around the house that I should be doing! {We only have ONE computer, so if they're on, I'm OFF!}

I actually spent a huge chunk of my afternoon yesterday crafting because I wasn't wasting my time browsing facebook!

I really am a genius ...




And I will let you know in a couple weeks whether we're still sticking with it and if it's still working out well. =)

2011 Booklist

In case you're curious, here is a list of the books I read in 2011 ... if you could care less, well then I guess it's just a good reminder to myself! haha!

The Thorn by Beverly Lewis
A Merry Heart by Wanda Brunstetter
The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews
The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews
The Judgement by Beverly Lewis
The Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Looking for a Miracle by Wanda Brunstetter
Plain & Fancy by Wanda Brunstetter
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
Kaleidoscope by Patsy Clairmont
Bertie's War by Barbara Blakey
Leaving by Karen Kingsbury
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
A Sister's Secret by Wanda Brunstetter
The Mercy by Beverly Lewis
The 5 People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

18 in all! There were times when it felt like it took me FOREVER to finish a book so I'm sort of surprised that I ended with a decent number. That's more than one per month! Which for this sleepy Mom who can't keep my eyes open for very long at night I thought I did pretty good!

As you can see when I like an author I tend to read their stuff A LOT. I thought all the books this year were good, I especially loved The Heart Mender, the Plain Truth and The Help.

The 5 People you Meet in Heaven was OK, not my fave but I managed to get through it.

This year I already have a long list of books I want to read. Most of which I would call 'self help' or books that encourage my spiritual growth. Unfortunately those are the ones that take me awhile to get through because I want to take it all in and chew on the knowledge to be gained, so I won't read them at night when I'm sleepy. And during the day it's tougher to make time to read. But I hope to! I plan to! We shall see!

How 'bout you? Read anything great in the past year?

A Weekly Plan {Jan. 2-8}

Being that my word for the year is SIMPLIFY, I figured a weekly plan was in order. For me, there is no better way to simplify than to have a PLAN of action!


First, I am using this template to keep my week in order.

My goals for the week are:

Set up my ETSY shop

Meet my neighbors

Get lots of school work done with the girls

Exercise

Eat well

Have consistent quiet time

My TO DO list for the week is:

Grocery shop

Library

Call Jess about piano

Make dinner for neighbors who just had a baby

Make food for Memorial service on Friday

Call Caroline about setting up Blessings party

Schedule our next Balcony Girls

Call Keurig!!

Thank you cards

My weekly verse {going along with the Gentleness challenge} is:

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." Galatians 5:22

And my menu plan is:

Mon - Rotini Casserole with salad

Tue - Homemade Chicken pot pies w/veggies

Wed - Awana night - sandwiches

Thur - Italian Chicken pasta

Fri - Chicken Chimichangas

Sat - Beef Pot Roast & Baked Potatoes

Sun - Leftovers {or go out}

This simple little piece of paper is already helping me immensely! I keep it posted on my fridge and check things off as I do them. It helps me keep track of drinking enough water and I'm also writing little things like when I floss on it. {I need all the reminders I can get!!} Even tracking when I change the bedsheets is a good thing for me as too often our week gets to busy and I forget.

How about you? Do you have a weekly plan?

January Challenge{s}

I have two things that I would LOVE for you to join me in this January.

The first is The Gentleness Challenge from the WomenLivingWell blog. And basically we are taking the month of January to focus on dealing with our children in a gentle manner. I know I have been guilty of getting angry and yelling SO often and I know it doesn't help the situation AT ALL when I do. I am going to do my very best this month to model the fruits of the spirit to my girls, because how can I expect them to be patient, kind, gentle, etc ... if they don't see it modeled by me?

Have you ever noticed how Michelle Duggar deals with her {19!!} children? She is always so kind & patient and uses such a calm, quiet voice with them! And they LISTEN TO HER! I am always impressed by her. I would like to parent just like that.

The next challenge I'm taking part in is 31 Days to Pray for your Spouse Challenge. Here is the link to find out more. I am guilty of not praying for my husband nearly enough and would like to take this month to be better about that.

So how about you? Would you like to join me and many other women in becoming more gentle with your kiddos and praying for your spouse daily? I feel like this will be such a big month of change for me and I'm very excited about it!