November Goals Update: Mid-month

Anyone remember me posting my goals at the beginning of the month? If not, here they are again.
**Complete 3 weeks of school and take a one week break for Thanksgiving.
**Turn off my small/personal tech once DT goes to bed so I can spend uninterrupted time with Dan.
**Stop multi-tasking!
**Say NO to unnecessary crazy.

Mid-Month update: How am I doing?
**School has been hit or miss, and largely unschooling since we aren't getting to the MFW curriculum with all the extra boys so far this month. However, we're still getting things done and I"m not giving up.
**My personal tech has gone away every evening around 8:30 so I can enjoy some time with Dan. Good stuff!
**Giving up Multi-Tasking has been harder than I thought, but I"m loving it. I feel less scattered, more focused and less irritable.
**Well, 3 outta 4 ain't bad, right? Totally flunked this goal so far. Had Jodi's boys for 6 days straight, going to have them for at least another 4 next week, got company coming for Thanksgiving, already did the Ren Faire and the dance recital, still have Feed My Starving Children and the girls home meet to go. Been to a doctor appointment with my S-G and and now am considering an impromptu trip to Chicago to be with her for her upcoming surgery. Meh, life is demanding. All I can do is my best.

November Goals

This year, I've been learning about goal setting and how to meet those goals. Today, I wanted to share my monthly goals so that I could (hopefully) inspire you to set some as well, and/or you can help keep me accountable on meeting this month's goals.
Here they are in no particular order:
**Complete 3 full weeks of school and take one week off for Thanksgiving. 
**Turn off my small/personal tech (phone, tablet, laptop) once DT goes to bed so that I can spend uninterrupted time with Dan, even if that means watching a movie with him.
**STOP MULTI-TASKING. Enjoy those around me, live in the moment and be more focused.
**Say NO to unnecessary crazy. No extra projects, no added disruptions, just say NO. Try to get back on an even keel before the holidays and gymnastics season begins. 

The End.

Homeschool Room Re-Do

I am so excited to share this post with you! The first weekend in Sept (yes, I know it's November) Dan went out of town to pick up Patrick who had been spending a few weeks in IL with my parents. I asked my sister Karen to watch David and Derek for a few days so I could have a much needed break from parenting, homeschooling, being the mama taxi and meeting the needs of my husband and family. (hey, everyone needs a break now and then) I made my lists, prioritized them, started over, made more lists, made more lists and MORE lists, and before long, I had way more planned than I could get done in a MONTH alone. So I settled on one large project and made it my focus. Our school room had been needing "something" for a while. It was crowded, cluttery, disorganized and discouraging to be in for any length of time. "Something" needed to be done. So I endevoured to do that particular something. *winks*
Once all of the Man Crew was off to their adventures without me, I settled in with some music, some snacks, a new Gaither DVD, and my camera. I'm sure I annoyed everyone on my FB friends list by posting every 5 minutes for a few hours. I am not used to being alone (as in, it's been 10 years since I've been alone for more than a few hours~ seriously) so once I got the hang of that, I got down to business. I started with the pre-requisite BEFORE pictures that looks like this *cringe*

I hope this is a No Judgement Zone :) I know. Clutter clutter clutter. Anywho, after that, I just scooped up every single thing in the room and drug it to the LR. I piled all the papers, and books, and games, and manipulatives on the couch, chairs and floor and started going through every single thing. THAT took 2 full days. It was slow going but so worth doing. I pulled almost 1/2 of the things out to either be put into storage (boys old school papers and projects) sold on eBay or to homeschooling friends, or just be tossed, tossed, tossed. It felt GOOD! I cleaned the room, the furniture and the walls. I also rearranged so that the room was more open and airy. So, here is the fruit of my labors. 3 days well spent in my opinion. The boys are able to find all of their things at a moment's notice. Plenty of things went to other families to bless them. The room is clean and useable, we almost never have to LOOK for somewhere to sit down our papers these days, and that's ALWAYS a good thing!

Oh, and we even finally had room for all my encouraging posters, informative reminders and seasonal decorations.

I know, I'm a super dork to get so excited about a clean and well organized space, but I'm ok with that. :) Being able to effectively corral our homeschooling 'schtuff' has always eluded me, so it's a big deal. LOL
     Blessings, ~K~

Simple Woman's Daybook~ Evening Edition

FOR TODAY... April 13, 2010
Outside my window... the sun is setting as I type this and it's been a glorious day in southern NM. Warm, super sunny, the birds have been cheerfully talking to each other all day and they are saying their good nights now.
I am thinking... that balancing homeschooling, work, family and LIFE is harder than it looks sometimes. Struggling to find BALANCE this week.
I am thankful for...Dan, in all of his radiant glory. That man loves me....why, I don't know! He is always up for a new challenge, being it trying new my new recipes, to fixing everything I manage to break all day, to bringing laughter and joy into our home, where I would fall into a boring routine and never vary from it. Dan is a rock star ; )
From the learning rooms... Struggling, struggling, struggling....it's like I can't recover from spring break or something. Life keeps getting in the way of school. We didn't take an 'OFFICIAL" break, and I'm wondering if that's part of it. We didn't plan to take a break and it just kinda happened while we weren't paying attention...so it doesn't FEEL like we took a break. Does that even make sense?? Ugh...school is getting the best of me this week. We did have a productive day this week and for now, I'll take it! *winks* Off to the library we go tomorrow.
From the kitchen... Dinner still smells good : ) I like the Monday to Sunday list, so I'm going to stick with that format if that's OK : )

• Monday~Tuna casserole (*out of a BOX*) I can hear the horrified gasps right now...LOL!
  
• Tuesday~Baked 'fried' chicken breasts and brown rice with veggie sticks
  
• Wednesday~Soup and Grilled cheese
  
• Thursday~Sauteed Shrimp, Buttered Egg Noodles and green beans
  
• Friday~Pizza
  
• Saturday~Pot Roast in the Crock Pot
  
• Sunday~Roast Chicken, mashed potatoes, cauliflower and rolls

I am wearing... Brown knit capris, a mint green tee and tennies, but it's TIME to take those shoes OFF!
I am creating... a clean, tidy well-maintained house to impress the landlord with when he comes next weekend. And for us to relax in when we actually all get home each day : )
I am going...to the library and work tomorrow, grocery shopping on Friday and working at the gym on Saturday.
I am reading...E-Books that I've downloaded for school use, Galatians, and Learning to Love When Loving Isn't Easy
Pondering these words...Love without truth is hypocrisy, and truth without love is brutality. Hmmmmm.....I may have to change some of my relationships with that one.
I am hoping...that we can come to an agreement with the landlord about buying this house. We are PRAYING about this, too!
I am hearing... Boys chattering to each other as they play, The Princess Bride in the background that NO ONE is watching and the tapping of the keyboard.
Around the house... it's looking good for once...hurray!! I NEED to get the LR swept and mopped after the doggies did their damage last night, but the rest of the house is looking pretty good.
One of my favorite things...A sweet afternoon snuggle with Derek and a pile of books. He's getting old enough that snuggling isn't as welcomed as it used to be. We had such a lovely snuggle today and I enjoyed it immensely.
A few plans for the rest of the week: To rebalance the scales that are my life. Homeschooling, serving my family, serving the Lord in ways outside of my home, cleaning this home, finances...they all need to come into balance. That's my big plan....nothing else takes precedence over that, so nothing else will be a priority until that is settled.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...Dan tearin' it up last year in the dune buggy. He was so excited to get it going. We bought it after Dan drove by it for month...he walked up, knocked on the door, offered them money and brought it home. Such a scavenger he is...it's one of my favorite qualities about him. : )

If you enjoyed this post and would like to join in or read more posts like it, check out the link below and take a peek into other's daybooks.

PS. Miss Peggy, I am so sorry. I goofed up last week and didn't put in the link to your site. Please accept my humble apologies and know that I will make sure to put it here in the future. : (