SMART... again.

Doing fairly well on most of my habits, prayer is about 80%, study time 50% and school start time about 75%. Still need to work on them, but they are starting to become more habitual.

As I sit here thinking about what habit I'd like to add to my list, I keep going back to the ones I was trying to establish earlier in the year. The one that keeps coming to mind is not one that I had much success with, but I think it is very important so I'm going to make another attempt at it. I have been much too lazy about recording transactions in my checkbook. I just keep stashing those receipts in my purse til they start to take it over, then I shove them in the top drawer of my dresser. And when I finally make myself sit down and record them, it takes FOREVER!!

If I can take a couple of minutes each day to record the transactions of the last 24 hours, there won't be any more marathon sessions.

My habits:

Daily a.m. prayer ~ Still needs work, doing better though

Study Time ~ Make an appt for it and put it on the calendar, tell family I have appt.

Consistent start for school ~ remind girls of our routine and set example myself.

Daily checkbook recording ~ get checkbook up to date and keep it there.

For more about SHS, check Lara out over at The Lazy Organizer.

Sort of SMART!

How did this week go? Last week's habit to work on Study Time for me got off to a pretty rocky start. I am much too easily pulled away by my kids and all the things going on in the house. Life, I guess you could call it. I need to actually put it on my schedule, and tell everyone that I have an appt. I think that's what I'll do this week.

I started homeschooling my girls this year and we started out pretty well, but with all the house stuff we've been working on, we have lost our consistency on our start time. So this week, my new habit to work on is to:
Stick to our morning routine and start time for school
No more computer time in the a.m. for me, no more fiddling around for the girls before we get started. It just throws the whole day off.

My habits:
Daily a.m. prayer ~ Still needs work, doing better though
Study Time ~ Make an appt for it and put it on the calendar, tell family I have appt.
Consistent start for school ~ remind girls of our routine and set example myself.

SHS-Oct 13 edition

That little sign at the foot of my bed really worked well. I only missed one day of morning prayers, (today)because I wasn't sleeping in my own bed last night. C and I had a mini vacation at the Hampton Inn to belatedly celebrate our 20th anniversary. Aug was just too busy to get away.

Anyway, I'm going to add:

STUDY TIME

to my list. In trying to implement the principles of TJEd into our home and life I need to be modeling what I want my kids to do. If I want them to be interested in studying, I need to be doing it first. I have a plan, I just need to schedule time to do it, which I haven't been doing. So I'm going to take an hour each afternoon to study for me!

I'm jumping back on the bandwagon!

I fell WAY off the SHS bandwagon last spring when things started to get crazy with end of school and summer approaching. But I am going to jump back on this week and try to finish out the year. I figure if Lara can do it from her bed(poor girl) then I have no excuses.

I'm going back to the very most basic habit I need and that's

daily personal prayer

I've been almost 100% on evening prayers, but that a.m. prayer thing just doesn't happen as often as it should and heaven knows I need that help throughout the day. I think I'm going to write on the whiteboard on the wall at the foot of my bed, "Did you Think to Pray?" Maybe that will catch my eye as I wake up in the morning.....Can't hurt, right?

Really excited for Talk about Tuesday, as well.

Back to the Grind!

Well, Spring Break is over. It went by just a bit too fast for my liking. I could so get used to not making that drive to A.F. every day. I'm really looking forward to the end of school this year.

We puttered around for the first two days of break, doing some yardwork for Great-Grandma Y and visiting with family. Grandma Welch was in town from GA to help Aunt N with her new twin boys. Tuesday we took most of the kids and went to the matinee of Meet the Robinson's in 3D. It was such a fun little movie with a good message and the 3D part made it extra fun! I'm sure we all looked so COOL(ie:dorky) in our 3D glasses. Wednesday I took the 5 youngest kiddos and headed south! Stayed at my parents house til yesterday and then reluctantly made the drive home. Unfortunately the weather really didn't cooperate with us for doing any out of doors activities while we were there. It was either too windy, cold or rainy/snowy. So we made the best of it and played with cousins and just hung out at Grandma's house. I always love going home even if we don't have anything 'special' planned. For me, just getting out of the city and being with my sisters and parents is a treat. I know that it can be overwhelming when my hoarde and I descend upon them all, but I appreciate how readily they take us in. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Love ya!

Due to the nature of my travels this week, I did not make much progress on my habits. So I'm rewinding to last week again. I really did take my exercise clothing with me and was hoping to walk there every day, but the weather just was not nice enough for me! What can I say, I'm a wimp!

I am also going to add a new habit this week that I thought of on my drive home last night. I have not taken the time to play the piano for such a long time. So I'm going to add playing the piano for at least 10 minutes a day. Practice up on the hymns again. I love playing the piano, and although I cannot play to accompany anyone(I freeze up!), I love to play for my own enjoyment and I find it very therapeutic. If I'm bothered by my kids, I can sit at the piano and before long the thumping and banging changes to lovely peaceful hymns. I can't believe I didn't think of this before.

Have a great week!

A Roof, We have a Roof!!!

Wow, it has finally happened. C and D(friend who knows construction) have been busy as little bees working up on our roof the last two days and finished putting in the large beam that will hold up the roof when we remove the kitchen wall, finished the trusses and got the sheathing done and I believe they are now putting down the tar paper stuff. I'm beyond excited. From here on out, with the exception of the plumbing and electrical stuff, C can do lots of the work himself. Next on the agenda are a door and windows and duct work for the new rooms so we can put in a new furnace and A/C. Wahoo!

Speaking of bees, we got a new batch today for our second hive! We are hoping to get lots more honey this year with a well established hive from last year and a new hive as well. Go girls!!!

We have been busy this week trying to get the yard looking better. Got a few more annuals for the raised flower bed, a garden hook for a hanging plant (still not sure what to plant in it) and also planted a few potatoes in the garden. The beans and corn I planted in a little started box last week are growing like crazy. Wish I dared put them out, but I need to wait a bit longer so they won't get frozen like the tomato C planted last week. Poor little thing. Still no peas or lettuce up yet.

Well, I ought to update my habits.....ok, it was a so-so week. Started out great, but as the week went on and I got busier with committments at school, ie; fitting costumes for the Shakespeare play and driving for the Kindergarten field trip as well as a dr. appt, I sort of forgot or was just too darn tired.
I'm going back over my list and the one that I see I've really slipped on is my exercise. So that's what I'm going to focus on this week again. So hard to get back into it after doing nothing for 3 weeks. Ugh! But I know it will help in all areas of my life. I love how I feel about myself when I am active and that it makes me want to eat more healthily. So that's my habit re-do! Check out Lara's blog for more info on Smart Habit Saturday's. Join in for a chance to win prizes!

I got two fun packages in the mail in the last week. The first was for getting my name drawn over at Wendy's blog and she was WAY generous. It was full of fun things like foam stamps, acrylic paint, rub-on's, charms, frames, ribbon and more. Then a couple of days later my name was drawn in a contest over at Christy's blog, and I just got that fun package today. She sent an adorable little felt covered notebook(red-one of my favorite colors) and some great papers and embellishments to go with it. I'm still trying to figure out a fun thing to do with it. Any suggestions? It's about 3x5 big. I'm still so amazed that I was lucky twice in a week's time. Thanks so much Wendy and Christy, 8-D!!

SHS Easter Version

Easter is not really a big deal at our house. Not that we don't love and appreciate the reason for the holiday, but the whole Easter bunny, basket, new dress stuff just isn't a big deal here. Sometimes I feel really bad about that.....but not too bad. We did run and pick up a few things for the baskets at WalMart tonight and I have a turkey thawing for Sunday dinner. I need to make rolls tomorrow and check the rest of the menu. This will be the first big Easter dinner we've done, but I think that's a tradition I'd rather have than the flagrant spending of more money. I know that I need to do a better job of helping the kids(and myself) remember why we really celebrate Easter. What traditions do you have that help you remember the real reason?

I'm trying to be the first to post on Lara's SHS this time. So I'll be brief. Had a so-so week. I don't think I did any of my habits every single day but everything has been worked on and I think that's a pretty good habit!

Going to add flossing to my face washing this week. I really should have this habit down, after all I am a trained dental assistant. I KNOW how important flossing is and how many problems it prevents, but for some reason I have never been in the habit of doing it on a regular basis. So that's my newbie for the week. Have a great one!

Friday Edition of SHS!

Since tomorrow is General Conference, I'm going to do this today so it doesn't get left til Monday again. We are so excited for Conference. My kids have learned to love this weekend. It could be because they don't have to dress up and go to church, or it could be the tons of Goldfish crackers they get to eat while watching Conference, but I'm hoping that it's because they get to listen to our prophet and apostles and feel the Spirit touch their hearts. As they get older I think they are learning to love it for those reasons. With the little ones, I am just happy that they will sit still and quietly for a bit.

Interesting week here, busy as usual, but it's been hard to be happy about that busyness. I think that has something to do with the weather. I am such a lover of sunshine. I would go absolutely ballistic if I lived in WA where the sun never really shines, at least not often. I NEED sunshine. Must be why I loved AZ, where it shines 360 days a year.

Had a nice lunch and visit with a friend this week. She used to live on our street but moved to Alpine about 4 years ago. It was fun to see her new home and her new daughter and just relax and talk. I need to do things like this more often.

On the SHS front:
-this weeks goal of limiting blog reading to 1/2 hour went fairly well. I have had a bored habit of checking my favorite blogs more than once a day and I decided that once a day was plenty and I can accomplish that in 1/2 hour. It paid off for me too, as I won a contest on one of those blogs and will be getting a little package in the mail shortly. Thanks, WendySue!

-recording transactions into the checkbook every night-went well, except for yesterday. Plan to get to that today. I'm liking this habit and it sure saves me a big job later down the road.
-reading to baby-slacked a bit and only read him a book twice.
-wash pots and pans before bed-did great here, and I love my clean sink area.
-getting to bed on time-this was better this week. Not quite a habit yet though.
-am prayers-still working for me to do them at breakfast time.
-exercise/weight loss-exercise was a bust this week, can't seem to find my motivation. Who took it????????????/
-organization-great week here. C and I went through the bookshelves and CD's and videos and took a load of stuff to DI. Nice to have that pile of extra boxes out of the family room finally. I also made a dent in my recipe pile. Need to get a 3-hole punch and make a binder for the ones I want to save that are off the internet or from Homemaking, etc.

Going to add this week: Washing my face every night. I'm so bad about just brushing my teeth and crawling in bed. It really doesn't take that long to wash my face as well and my skin needs the help. Gotta love hormones and the havoc they wreak on women, ugh!

Have a great weekend.

Spring has Sprung!

Oh, the sunshine is so glorious today and we have spent the day working on the yard and on the addition to the house. C has worked like a madman and the rest of us have put in a half hour of work or so to help......The flowerbeds are looking wonderful in their new coat of compost as are the garden boxes.

I got to go grocery shopping...my least favorite activity of all time. Or one of them, at least. Call it a light-bulb moment or an epiphany or what have you, but it finally dawned on me this week that because C puts all the household operating $$ in my account once a month, that it would be possible for me to make a month's worth of menus and shop once. Let's see, one big shopping trip on one hand and one small trip a day on the other......Which would you choose????
I spent Thursday evening making up a menu and a shopping list and did the lion's share of the shopping today. Still need to hit Sam's or Costco for the produce and cheese and Walmart for a few non-food things, but I'm feeling so pleased with having that icky chore done. I realize that we will still have to get more produce and dairy, but that's no biggie.

Add to this the fact that now I do not have to think every single day what to make for supper and this has been a huge boost for me. Hooray!

On the SHS front:
-last week's goal of recording transactions into the checkbook every night was a success and it's sure nice knowing where my account is sitting. Will keep this one going to make it a good habit.

-reading to baby-C helped me with this and we probably got in 4 or 7 days.
-wash pots and pans before bed-this one is a toughie for me, but I think I managed it twice.
-getting to bed on time-this was better this week. Not quite a habit yet though.
-am prayers-still working for me to do them at breakfast time.
-exercise/weight loss-exercise was a bust this week. Had a nice weight loss(8lbs) but that was due to barfing my guts up on Monday night/Tues morning. Still learning to stop eating when I'm full and honoring my hunger. I am amazed at how little I need to eat to feel satisfied when it's something I like.
-organization-went through the girls drawers and closets last night to pull out things that are too small or no longer used and took a load of things to D.I. Also rearranged the food room shelves to house all the groceries I bought today.

This week I'm going to work on another bad habit I'm developing. I'm going to limit my blog reading time to 1/2 hour per day. Yikes, I better learn to speed read.

That's all for now, have a wonderful week.

New week, hopefully a healthy one!

Well, I sent all the kids off to school this morning. After nearly 4 weeks of having someone home sick, I'm hoping that we have gotten rid of the pinkeye and stomach flu bugs that have cursed our house. I need to go strip bedding and do a lot of washing today!

Got a new calling in church yesterday after not having had one for nearly 6 months. I am a Visiting Teaching Supervisor. I guess I'm up for another calling that mostly involves phone calls, even though I have phone-a-phobia. I guess it's Heavenly Father's way of helping me overcome that fear.

It has been absolutely gorgeous here lately, in fact, it's been almost too hot. But it is SO nice to see green again and to see my little daffodils and tulips pop open. The roses are rapidly putting on leaves and I see little purple buds on our plum tree. Won't be long before they all put forth their lovely flowers. I LOVE SPRING!! It is by far my favorite season of the year. I love to see things come back to life and to have it start to warm up. But the main reason that I like it more than summer or fall................LESS BUGS!! ;-p

I didn't do such a hot job at my habit-building last week. Could have been something to do with having my mom here, sick at that, and having H home from school for four days with pinkeye. Which isn't so bad, but we had lots of homework to get done, because Fri was the end of term. So I spent most of my days helping her and S get their work done. I feel like I should get a grade for all the time I put into homework.

For SHS I will add entering transactions into the checkbook each night to the mix. I have such a BAD habit of just tossing the receipts into my wallet and letting them pile up for months. I'd like to change that BAD habit for a GOOD one.

AM prayers-Found that if I do them at my Breakfast meal, I get them done.
Weight loss/Exercise 3 X-did exercise twice, but that's better than not at all, right? I'm almost finished with Intuitive Eating. I have really learned a lot from this book and I'm excited to see if it will help me have a better relationship with food and learn to like my body. We went to Brick Oven Pizza on Sat night with some of C's relatives who were in town and I kept myself to a good salad and I got some pasta, but didn't eat all of it, even though it was delicious. I realized that I was starting to feel way too full. I should not have had the soda to go with it! But it was nice to realize I felt full and that I could just take the rest home for another meal another day!
Getting to bed earlier-did pretty good this week. It's harder now that it stays light longer and I can't get the kids to go to bed. That really moves my quiet time back, but I'm still trying here.
Reading to baby-didn't get everyday. He still just likes to take the book from me and turn the pages as quickly as possible. We'll keep trying.
Wash the pots and pans before bed-stunk this one up royally. Must do better this week.
Organization-reorganized my stamping supplies to make room for the new pads I bought at the CTMH warehouse sale on Fri. Couldn't pass up CTMH inkpads for $2 each. I bought 14 of them. That's about all I got done in this area this week. I'm hoping to make a dent in my recipe/cookbook mess this month. It's something that has needed to be done for years, but I've never figured out the best way to organize my recipes. Any suggestions?????

Have a loverly week!