First of all, the chalkboard has been redesigned by Ava Grace:
1. The household budget----oh gosh, does anyone want the long and ridiculous story of my angst regarding our household budget....let's just say, we aren't so good at tracking our purchases and it was quite the thing to stomach the fact that all this time we've been over budget on Jackson's Soy Milk alone by like... double....
some readjustments have been necessary, both of budget, spending and attitude....soup for supper anyone?
2. Read Childrens Lit---- I read alot children's books to my kids of course, but I wanted to get back into the world of literature I loved when I was in my middle years, so I picked up one of Kev's suggestions from the Sally Ann on Saturday, Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach".... gosh that's a weird little book.
I had a rather hard time sticking it through and my summary on it would be that maybe it's better appreciated by boys, (the giant centipedes and sharks and whatnot). It's a fairly straightforward story of a child with a good heart going on a magical adventure with absurd friends and the evil villian aunts do get squashed by the giant peach, so it wasn't all bad,, into the bookshelf it goes, perhaps Jackson will enjoy it someday like his dad did.
( I found a 1943 copy of Mary Poppins in my bookshelf that I picked up at a garage sale a few months ago, I'm thinking I may have enjoyed that one better, ah well.)
3. Finish 3 projects on the go---- operative words being ON THE GO... hmm, sadly I am the kind of person who is always starting new projects but I'm not so good at the finishing of half done things.
I made Ava Grace a scrapbook of her third year, a pillowcase dress, a coloring book, finger paints and paper ....I still have more things that need to be done, so just writing this makes me want to whip them out and just get them done dang it!
4.Plan Fun, celebrate simple things--- I think we've done pretty good with this one so far with our Ava Grace's super simple Birthday Party and our sugar fest 2010, I am majorly looking forward to the simple celebrations that are planned for this weekend, as we are having all my siblings together (and my grandparents too) for a VERY early Christmas (more of a Christmas kick-off I guess) and there will be baking, crafts, decorating of the tree, appetizers and perhaps a bonfire in the backyard....hurray!
5. Keep in Touch--- I wish I was better at this... I need to call my Nanny.
But I did get back in touch with my friend Tasha and we had a great conversation and visit with her kids whom are growing up waaaaay too quickly!
6.Commit to Prayer----Again, another post (nay, a whole blog) could be dedicated to this topic and the impact its been having on my day to day life. The biggest thing I could say quickly here, is that the more I commit to prayer, the more I realize I need to commit to prayer and the more I pray, pray, pray ! I've been learning that prayer really is a conversation, not a series of post it notes, we stick to God's fridge, it's been an exciting and challenging few weeks for me in this area, and I know it's only going to continue in the future! Thank God, He's already there ahead of me, and we can talk about it as it all goes down!
7. Write down what my kids do and say---- this sure has made me a more aware parent, I've been jotting notes down on scraps of paper and notebooks, trying to keep it all recorded. I'm listening more and trying to hang on more and more to our conversations. I don't catch everything, and the moments still slip through my fingers like little bits of sand, but I'm doing my best to be in the moment with them and keep it for the future.
It sure has given me alot more material for this blog!
8. Surprise my Husband---oh, wouldn't you like to know :) j.k.
I think he's been surprised that his underwear drawer has stayed consistently filled and that I've been deferring to him a lot more lately on what to do with the kids, the broken car, the plans for moving, etc.
I'm such a charge-ahead-and-fill-you-in-on-the-details-later kind of person, that this has been a major area I need to grow in.
I also have plans to surprise him with some toasty slippers for Christmas and plans to have his sport coat altered for him...(FINALLY).
9.Cut out the Sugar and Salt---sugar... hmmm... I would have to be honest and say that the giant bag of candy from last week, kind of put the kibosh on that one. I've been sitting on my duff every evening of the last week surrounded by empty candy wrappers (I'm gross I know) but we're down the coffee crisps and Tootsie Rolls so, it should start slowing down.....In my regular diet, yes, sugar has gone WAAAAY down.
As part of our efforts to economize the whole kitchen, so many cooking "shortcuts" have gone out the window and with them the sugar, and the salt!
I know I haven't dedicated a full post to the evils of sodium, but I have been pretty successful in weeding a lot of it out of our kitchen too.
The only things I have found I can't go without are taco seasoning and mushroom soup... if anyone has any suggestions, please send them to me!
Well, that's the so far and forthwith that I've been trying to keep going the last few weeks. Sorry for the lack of lovely pictures to break up all that blather....
hope your autumn is going well and you're moving forward too!
onto Christmas, FULL STEAM AHEAD!
ashley
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