summertime to-do's {2012}

summer print courtesy of The Rubber Punkin

If there's a list to be made, I'm gonna* make it. 

I tried to resist, but it's impossible to ignore: it's time, once again, for another edition of summertime to-do's.

School's out this week and here's what's on the docket, both for me and for the little me's:

• {Office Hours} Once upon a time I decided on something called "office hours" (I'm a work-at-home-mama), which are basically certain hours of the day I was on-line: early morning, mid-afternoon (during nap time/quiet time), and evenings after the kids were tucked into bed. The rest of the day I steered clear of the c-o-m-p-u-t-e-r. Somewhere along the line, I fell off the wagon. Time to climb back on board!


• {HelloMornings} I'm fully committed to this idea of waking up before the fam does. We are three weeks into the HelloMornings Challenge, and I'm finding I actually enjoy this quiet (i.e. ridiculously early) start to my day. Continuing this practice throughout the summer will help me find the sanity I need as my school-aged kids are home full-time again.


• {Cleaning Reboot} Last spring, I completed the 31 Days to Clean Challenge, and I loved, loved, loved it. Now Sarah Mae is offering a 31 Days to Clean Reboot as she prepares to have her book published (it was originally an e-book). The reboot starts today, Monday, June 4!


• {Finding Balance} We have a few activities on the calendar for the big kids including VBS, a safety camp (held at a local fire station...cool, huh?), swim lessons, and a family vacation. These activities are thoughtfully spaced out throughout the summer and most are only an hour or two a day. I'm looking forward to the diversion they will provide for D & E, but I'm also looking forward to all of the blank calendar spaces too.


• {Eating Well} On the subject of eating well, my basic summer goal is to frequent the farmer's market with the kids, at least once a week. I'm a believer in baby steps, and I think this qualifies. We tried a CSA last summer and it was a little overwhelming for us (eat kale, much?)


• {Teaching Responsibility} One of my big goals for the kids while I have them at home this summer is to transfer more responsibility over to them, especially on the topic of helping out around the house. I tend to be the mom who picks up the shoes, puts away the clean underwear, and wipes down the toothpaste-filled sink because it just seems easier that way. Watch out kids, the free rides over!


• {The B-I-B-L-E} In further proof that I really am becoming my mother, I'm going to put together a little memory verse program for the kids. I'm picking 12 of my favorite verses (centered around the themes of praise, promises & character) and I'll post them for a week at a time and we'll practice them together. Fun fact: back in the day, when I was eight, the prize was a giant Hershey bar. Even funner* fact: next week I'll be sharing the verses I'm using with {FREE} printables for you!

So that's the structured stuff, but no need to worry, we will spend plenty of time running through the sprinklers, eating freezy pops, and meeting up with friends at the park. I'm a big believer in the kids-should-play-outside movement (otherwise known as our own childhoods). On the rainy days, we'll read books, lounge around in our PJ's, and work through my summer vay-cay pinboard. 

And I'm not gonna* lie, we'll watch PBS too.

*Yes, I'm aware, these aren't real words. Sue me for exercising my creative license.

P.S. If you haven't linked up your favorite May {living the width} post yet, you can still do that here. Also, I'm excited to post my very first GIVEAWAY this week on The Terpblog! Look for it later this week!

Watcha* up to this summer? 

Hello Mornings!

I spotted the HelloMornings Challenge on my bloggy buddy Jane's Facebook page last week {Jane authors two great blogs, Girl Meets Paper and the Unofficial Homeschooler.} I was instantly intrigued by the idea of maximizing my mornings and wanted to know more.

I followed the link and started digging around a site called Inspired to Action which is written by a woman named Kat (she's also a contributor over at Simple Mom) and is full of tips and tools for inspired moms.

The HelloMornings Challenge is a tri-annual on-line event designed to help women all over the world develop the life giving morning habit of waking up early to spend time with God, intentionally plan their days, and exercise regularly.

You know me: I love a good challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed the other challenges I've participated in recently, including our workout challenge (Week 75 and going strong!), 31 Days to Clean, and 40 bags in 40 days.

I realize this isn't for everyone (i.e. feel free to play your I-still-have-a-baby free pass), but for me I'm in a good spot to give this a go. I have been getting good, consistent sleep for more than two years now.

(Note: While we have no claims to early potty training fame, we did have three babies who slept through the night at 2-3 months old and then took regular 3 hours naps until school age. Sometimes I like to remind myself of those champion sleep habits when they're driving my crazy in other areas.)

I find myself more productive early in the day, and I've had some success in the past year or so getting up early to swim or run once or twice a week. When we were working through 31 Days to Clean last spring, I was committed to early rising for that month or so in order to work through the daily devotion before the day really started. Sometimes I get up early to get a jump on my work-from-home to-do's as well. 

However, I am looking for something a little more sustainable this time around. I would like to make this an honest to goodness habit, especially since life only seems to be getting crazier as the kids grow with school schedules, homework, extracurricular activities, and less and less of a reliable nap time.

When I wait and let the kids wake me up, I'm usually up around 7:15am (don't hate us...hubby and the big kids don't need to leave the house until 8:45am so there's no reason for us to be up especially early). 

For the challenge, I'm going to shoot for 5:45/6:00am. I'm not sure exactly what this newly created time slot will look like for me - I'll work through that this week before we get started, but I'm guessing it will be a combination of quiet time (I'm determined to finish reading through the Bible ASAP) and planning out my day, and then sometimes it will involve exercise and sometimes it will mean getting a jump on my work for the day.

I think the key to success here, as with most things, is to have someone (or a group of someones) keeping you accountable. Theresa is climbing on board the early rising wagon with me, and we'll see if we can entice anyone else to join us as well. 

The challenge is actually centered around checking in with others via Facebook, Twitter, or email to make sure you're all up and at 'em. Genius. 

[For the other two sessions throughout the year, they will set you up with an on-line community, but for the summer session, it's up to you to find your own peeps.]

If you're still reading this post, I'm guessing something is resonating with you. If you'd like to register for HelloMornings, you can click on the button below. The challenge is completely free, and they provide you with some great resources including a free e-book, devotional {Love Like Him}, prayer calendar, simple exercise tips, and printable planning sheets.

The next session starts this Monday, May 14, so there's no time to drag your feet. Now's the time to browse the resources, gather some early bird wannabes, sign-up on-line, and get your early morning plan in place. 

Oh, and don't forget to set your alarm.

40 bags in 40 days

When I first got hooked on Pinterest (28-some weeks ago...time flies when you're having fun), this '40 bags in 40 days' pin was one of my very first pins. It quickly went on my To Do pinboard along with my Year 32 list.

The idea is simple: make a list of 40 areas in your home and in 40 days, get rid of 40 bags of "stuff" from these spots. {Stuff = clutter, junk, excess, and anything else that is no longer used or needed.}

January brought with it a new year, and I thought it might be a good time to revisit this 40 bags idea. I did a little more reading on-line and found that this concept is often tied in with the Lenten calendar.

Spiritual clutter control? I'm so in.

I sent a Facebook message out to some good friends and kindred cleaning spirits and got an overwhelming, yes! let's do it! response. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love my friends??)

We started a private FB group and created and then shared our lists on-line. Some of the girls already have a great start and the rest of us are joining in on February 22, when Lent begins.

free printable by Sugar Tot Designs here

Clearing out the clutter. Finding freedom in less. Intentional living during the Lenten season. Sharing the ride through accountability and community.

40 bags in 40 days. T minus 14 days. Are you in?

to do: recipe binder

It's July and about time to start making a dent in my summertime to do list.

Last night, Katie, Theresa and I got to work on our recipe binders armed with empty binders, plastic sleeves, dividers, piles of unorganized recipes and our trusty bottle of Moscato.

Our original inspiration came from Kamarah's binder project which was featured on IHeart Organizing a couple of months ago.

It took us a couple of hours (and lots of snacks) but we made it through to the other side.

I pretty-ed it up this morning by adding a cover with old scrapbook paper I had laying around.

I stuck with five tabs to keep things simple but you can use more if you want more categories. I'm going to use the printable from IHeart to list the tried and true recipes that my family enjoys.

I still have some recipes written on recipe cards in a recipe box that I love - I might eventually incorporate those in later but the binder is great for all the loose stuff from magazines, websites, etc. 

We purged the recipes we knew we would never really make (despite our best intentions), laughed at our previous recipe "organization" methods (multiple post-its for one recipe, anyone?) and shared the really, really good ones with each other.

In the end, our recipes are organized, and more importantly, we feel a little bit lighter, a little bit less stressed and a little bit better equipped to take on dinnertime.