How I Stay Organized...and Baby Bear Feet

I first found the world of blogging while I was online searching for a way to organize my days, and find out how other homeschooling mom's managed their responsibilities.  What I found that benefited me the most was using a Household Management Binder.  I am one of those people who works better with a list. I abandoned my binder in late pregnancy/early baby days...well, now my baby bear is starting to crawl, we finished our homeschool year, and I need to get back on track!!  

In my binder, I have my morning routine page, to get me off to a good start, followed by a poem entitled, No Time for God...(read poem here) to remind me what's important.  Then I have tabs, each with a clear pocket to tuck important papers in, and extra notebook paper to jot little thoughts onto.

My tabs are: To-Do's (with lists printed from OrganizedHome.com); Meals/Recipes; Cleaning; Activities/Projects; Budget/Finances -with pockets for incoming bills to pay, and outgoing bills to file; School Info and Records; Books (to request, read, write notes on); and Purchases to Consider.  I feel so much better having a place to write things...and to remind me to do everything! Rather than being busier and more hectic with a whole list of to-do's, I am more productive and efficient.  I end up getting to spend more quality time with my children and husband! 

Speaking of the children, look at my baby's bear feet: Aren't they adorable?!

Hearts for Home This Week

Last week, I joined in with Cherished Hearts at Home for the weekly Hearts for Home link up, and I'm joining in again.  First of all, I was pleased to accomplish much off last weeks list.  As you see above, I made my fudge--and ate it, too! It makes so much I was able to send that plateful to my husband's coworkers to enjoy.

About three out of five days, I got an early start...at the end of the week I lost motivation and energy...for those of you who don't know, I am quite far along in pregnancy.

We went to the pumpkin patch, see the pictures here.  It was a gray day, nice and cool, and since people thought it might rain that day, it was much less crowded. We had a lovely time.

We read and snuggled on the cloudy days, particularly Laura Ingalls' Little House in the Big Woods...which has to be the best snuggling book ever.  We were inspired to make pancake men...

And, lastly, we had our Daddy Day...emailed pictures of our pumpkin patch visit, called him several times, made him some loving cards...

This week, I want to:

1. Take advantage of my "nesting" urge to organize the kitchen and kid's armoire.  We have already gone through all the children's clothes, and all our books...eliminating and decluttering.  It feels great.
2. Make mini-books with the children...they enjoy looking through them for months afterwards.  My oldest wants to make one about owls today. She keeps saying Twoowhittoohoo!
3. Really enjoy the family dynamics as they are right now, before the new baby changes things up.  I saw a comment about this by Gae (Cherished Hearts at Home), and I realized I have been wanting to hurry this pregnancy, and could make better use of it by appreciating the way things are now.
4. Spend some good time in biblestudy...again, while things are still quiet.

I'm sure there is plenty more I need to do, but that is all I can think of right now...I hope you are having a great week too!

Remember to Notice All the Good Behaviour!

Marjorie and Lettice Wormald, by Arthur Hughes

I found this poem in a book of childhood verses I have, and it struck a chord with me. I notice that there are days when my kids are playing wonderfully together for 30-45 minutes, but at the end of that time, trouble happens.  It can become a bad habit to notice the five minutes of trouble, and not praise the half-hour of kind and happy play.  This is something I have been trying to change lately. Here's the poem, from a child's point of view.

If Mother Knew

(From " In This Our World", Charlotte Perkins Gilman)

If mother knew the way I felt, 
And I 'm sure a mother should, 

She wouldn't make it quite so hard
For a person to be good!

I want to do the way she says;

I try to all day long; 

And then she just skips all the right,

And pounces on the wrong!

A dozen times I do a thing,
And one time I forget;

And then she looks at me and asks
If I can't remember yet? 

She 'll tell me to do something,
And I 'll really start to go;

But she 'll keep right on telling it
As if I didn't know. 

Till it seems as if I couldn't —
It makes me kind of wild;

And then she says she never saw
Such a disobliging child.

I go to bed all sorry,

And say my prayers, and cry,

And mean next day to be so good,
I just can't wait to try. 

And I get up next morning,
And mean to do just right;

But mother's sure to scold me
About something, before night 

I wonder if she really thinks
A child could go so far,

As to be perfect all the time
As the grown up people are 

If she only knew I tried to, 
And I 'm sure a mother should, 

She wouldn't make it quite so hard
For a person to be good!

Hearts for Home

Today I want to join in with Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home.  Here are her words about her weekly link-up:

"In today’s busy and aggressive society mothers at home are not given much encouragement to be committed to their role in being home.

In my weekly 'Hearts for Home' post I am encouraging myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'."

So my list for the remainder of the week is as follows:

1. Get started on my mornings earlier, and keep plugging along...in other words, make the most of the morning time.  I did yesterday, and everything went that much smoother!
2. Read to the children a lot this week; it's a cooler, grayer week, perfect for snuggling up with books.
3. Have a "Daddy Day"...in which we email pictures of what's going on in our day, call him more frequently, greet him with a treat or craft for him when he gets home...make him feel special and involved.
4. Get to a pumpkin patch to add to the children's pleasant fall memories.
5. Make fudge for me for the family.  :-)
6. Don't get on the computer too much!  (Which means I must go now!)

How are you keeping your hearts for home?
 

The Value of Time

I love old books, and I have several vintage school books, primers, and readers that I have bought at estate sales and such.  Sometimes, when I can't sleep at night from a cold, or pregnancy discomforts, I read them until I am sleepy again.  One that I found had many good articles and poems was Bancroft's Fifth Reader, and in particular, the piece on The Economy of Time.  You can find it here on Google: "The Economy of Time" from Bancroft's Fifth Reader.
Just like many people, I have a tendency to waste away the minutes that add up to quarter hours, half hours, and eventually, whole hours...time that can be filled with useful things...like improvements to self, mentally, spiritually, physically; or profitable time spent with children or family and friends.  When I read this article, I printed it, and put it in the front of my household management binder as a very good reminder to me.  I will share a few quotes with you:


"...The man who has wasted the precious hours of life's seed-time finds that he cannot reap a harvest in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine; but lost time is gone forever."

"Rely upon it, if you are a miser of moments, if you hoard up and turn to account odd minutes and half-hours, you will at last be wealthier in intellectual acquisition, wealthier in good deeds harvested, than thousands whose time is all their own."

"The small stones that fill up the crevices are almost as essential to the firm wall as the great stones; and so the wise use of spare time contributes not a little to the building up of a man's mind in good proportions, and with strength."

Also today, I wanted to share with you a link to some great animal coloring page printables, found on Animal Jr.com.  I'm going to print out some of the cute owl pages for my littlest one, who loves owls.
Free Kids Coloring Pages

And now I'm off to make the most of my minutes today! Happy Friday!

Clock Photo by Suat Eman, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Monday Homemaking Inspiration- A Little Bit of Laura

Tomato Preserves, just like Laura Ingalls and her Ma used to make!

One of my favorite famous homemakers is Laura Ingalls Wilder. How well she used her time, and what a legacy she left us!  Generation after generation learn to appreciate the simple things and spend cozy times reading together.  Her memories become our memories, her family becomes our long ago ancestors. I'd like to share some inspiring quotes from newspaper articles she wrote, as compiled in Little House in the Ozarks, edited by Stephen W. Hines.