Looking Forward to 2015

It's that time of year.  Whether you make resolutions or not, this time of year can be one for reflection on the past and planning ahead to the future.  I always make sure to take a few hours by myself at a coffee shop to ponder and pray before diving back into the regularity of daily life.  For 2015, my planning and goal setting will revolve around this wonderful new book, Own Your Life: Living with Deep Intention, Bold Faith, and Generous Loveby Sally Clarkson.  I will take the month of January to ponder what priorities God has for me, in my unique family, situation, and with my unique gifts and talents.

Here are some of the things I consider in the areas of marriage, parenting, homeschooling, health, homemaking, and ministry:

 -What went well last year?

 -What is God calling me to change?

 -Which routines are still working for our family?

 -Which routines need a tune-up and which can be dropped?

 -What friendships does God want me to invest in this year?  As finite humans, we can only sustain and deeply invest in a limited number of people- listen for those God would have you focus on this year.

 -What books do I want to read this year?  As a book hound, I've found that having a list keeps me on track to read some challenging classics as well as the just-for-fun reading.  I keep this list on the app, Good Reads and refer to it regularly.  

 -What crafts do I hope to complete this year?

Once I spend time praying over these things by myself, I share what I've learned with my husband as well as ask for his input for the upcoming year.  This is a special time of looking forward together and discuss goals for our family.

Another thing I try to do now (or at the start/end of a school year) is to ask my children some questions.

  -What have we done recently that you really enjoyed?  (I focus on homeschooling, but could apply to any area of their life.)

 -What sports are currently holding their interest?

 -Which friendships would they like to invest in more deeply this year?

 -Is there anything I can do differently to help them in their chores/school/family routines?

 -What would they like to learn about this year?

By asking these questions, I am listening to my kids' current interests and can tailor our calendar to include some of them.  One year, they both mentioned wanting to learn more about dinosaurs so we spent an entire week doing nothing but dinosaurs.  It was a special time of fun and learning in our home.   One child was also able to articulate that he didn't like being rushed.  I now try to slow my own words and actions and also to include more "cushion" into our day to accommodate his need for a slower pace.

Taking time to plan and pray gives me focus and intention to move into a new year.  "Where there is no vision, the people perish."  Proverbs 29:18.

Check out #ownyourlifebook on Instagram for some beautiful photos of ways other people plan to own their lives in 2015.

What do you do to move intentionally into a new year?

http://www.sallyclarkson.com/ownyourlife

the amazon affiliate links in this post help us fund our homeschool- thank you for clicking through.

Book Review: the life-changing magic of tidying up

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Maria Kondo was a different type of book choice for me.  As you know, I love to review fiction books.  That's one of my favorite ways to relax.

I also love to be inspired to make my home a place of welcome and hospitality.  This book was interesting.  I really enjoyed the first half that shared several tips and methods to organizing that were new and very logical to me.  For example, the author advocated de-cluttering an entire category of belongings, not a specific place.  So, instead of the cleaning out the hall closet, aim to clean out all your coats.  From every place in the house at once.  This makes so much sense and something I will be using the next time I clean out my home, probably soon after the new year begins.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book went strongly against my love for Jesus and scripture.  The author speaks of belongings as being alive and in need of nurturing.  There is no "thing" in my life that needs nurturing- only the precious people that are around me.  I understand being a good steward of the possessions that God has blessed us with, but I cannot agree with the need to speak to and caress my clothes and books.  This would be a good book to check out from the library to get inspired to tidy, but not one I will be keeping in my possession.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Organization!

My favorite topic! I am so excited to have gotten my homeschool stuff organized, purged, and labeled (I love my label maker!). The best find of the day was the clear pocket shoe rack for the puppets! $8 at walmart with the exact number of pockets I needed. (Thanks, God!)

Some of the Monday through Friday bins for when the kids are looking for an activity. Filled with games, puzzles, and other things that I would rather them not have all-access to.

The extra supplies drawer. (once again, blogger baffles me as to why it rotated image..)

My favorite new organization cupboard!!! I love it. I even labeled the individual cubbies in the various organizers. (The plastic bin says "bingo daubers" - I need to find some remover and re-abel it "flashcards.")

The new puppet organizer!!!

Ah... I makes me breathe deeply and smile.

Redone Closet!

Yeah for organized closet! It might not look that different to you, but I consolidated and cleared out and decluttered and rearranged. There's even an empty plastic drawer near the bottom! Well, it's not empty now, but it is just holding the misc empty box lids and such that were drawer dividers.

The most fun part was putting my beads and buttons and misc knick knacks into an old spice organizer that we got for a wedding gift 12 years ago. I'd been saving it for just the right purpose and today it was just what I was looking for. I haven't redone the labels yet because that will involved soaking them and scrapping off the old ones first. Any good ideas out there for taking off 12 year old paper labels? If you zoom in, you can see wooden beads, buttons, and spools in three containers.

The black open bin is a bin of old sketch pads as well as various drawings and paintings from about Junior High on. They will be fun to go through and pick out a few favorites to put up on the walls around me.

The cardboard boxes on the bottom are old family photos. There is also two bins of Heritage Album supplies that is in progress. And will be for a long, long time! :)

Now, I can't wait to get a bulletin board up for inspiration and color ideas. Soon. Then, it's PROJECT time! :)

Studio in Progess

Okay, so here is the new table and the not-yet-re-organized closet. I had to document the "before" of course so as to be even more thrilled with the "after." When I get to it. When my kids are done barfing. :)

By the way, here's some tips- when your kids have an upset stomach, put a little step stool in the bathroom for them to sit on as they lean over the toilet. This has helped us tremendously with missing the toilet (ick), splashing (even more ick) and them just being comfortable while they sit there waiting for their insides to turn inside-out. It's been a fun week. (sarcasm sarcasm). Actually, trying to be grateful for the little moments, like how cuddly Josh is when he's sick. I love that. And Jack, when he's not having a tantrum is actually quite cuddly too. Watching loads of TV while eating dry cheerios and drinking clear fluids provides ample opportunity for cuddles. Of course, this extremely type-A Mommy has a VERY hard time letting go of the t0-dos and just sitting... but when I can, it's great. For them and me. You should try it. :)






the new desk (made out of a $19 door from home depot, painted with two coats of already-on-hand glossy white paint). On the right are the new drawers from Target. ($23 per cube- much less expensive than the "Crop In Style" brand and perfect for my uses.) I really like the ones with 4-drawers, but it appears that no Targets carry them anymore. Not online, not in 3 local Targets that I've dragged the sick kids to this week.


closet with shelves from costco that we installed years ago when we moved in. Best idea ever- the things holds SO much and I can SHUT the doors to hide it all. :) Really desiring to made it more organized and pretty and happy to look at- been looking at art studios online all week- but don't know when I will get to it. Hopefully soon.