Monday, December 8, 2014

Monday Meanderings - Dec. 8



Bible Study... One study is on contentment. And the other study is on Philippians. 

Memory Verse...  Ephesians 4:29
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs."

Husband Encouragement...
♥ Just trying to keep the house tidy and need to get our bedroom dressers decluttered and dusted. 
♥ Cookies and coated pretzals. =)

Train Them Up...
* Continue being consistent with my nightly dinner helper routine. This is not only a good opportunity for quality 1x1 time with each child, but they are learning how to cook! AND learning to appreciate all the details involved in preparing a meal!
* Carter-- working on respecting sibling's space and things. 
* Eli--I've been having the kids do our Christmas reading and counting that as his required reading minutes so that he's not spending as much time with homework.  Also working on attitude issues--he's type A child who likes things to be a certain way, or to continue working on a project, or to constantly defend himself/point fingers. Working on obedience and grace-filled attitude with this. 
* Hannah--Started a back-n-forth journal with her since she LOVES writing so much, she's so sweet! Also working on not withholding good from someone (siblings!!) just to make them mad. I've been having her think about whether she wants to continue with gymnastics after Christmas. 
* Started something new, yet AGAIN, with Bible notes. Eli and Hannah both really like looking up verses and copying them down. Last week I made up a study for Eli to discover the features of his Bible (table of contents and the notes at the beginning of each book) but he had it almost all done before church even started! Need to adapt this a little for Hannah's level and her Bible, and then she can do one too. And I can also write up something new this week for Eli.
* Christmas activities--I always plan a variety of suuuuuper easy things that don't require prep or supplies. But even still, the kids have had some fussiness here and there and because of it, have had to miss one of their days. We'll see how this week goes. 

Personal Goals...
I'm "doing" the "1 mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year's" challenge. >>This really hasn't been happening as consistently as I'd like but doing what I can. 

New Habit of the Month...  {december}
intentional time with the kids. use my time WISELY.

MUST Do... 
* Post office -- Mail a package!! and a surprise! and get stamps
* copy Christmas letters.
* finish music project. Can't get it formatted to print just right so I think I'm going to just manually cut, tape, and copy the pages that are being weird.
* Look into kids piano lessons.
* Take kids shopping for Christmas exchange.
* Bring home any musical items from the church.

Zone(s)... kitchen counters

Menu - 

M - enchilada bake
T -  breakfast for dinner -- pancakes
W - sandwiches
Th - angel hair pasta and shrimp
F - appetizer night--spinach artichoke cups, teriyaki meatballs
S - veggie soup

FUN THINGS!
* Bible study today!
* Music rehearsal tonight--Christmas music! Also having some new people practice with our team, so that's kinda fun!
* I have a service idea in mind for tomorrow, just need to find out if it's really doable! 
* Bible study Wednesday. =)
* Wednesday night is a women's ministry meeting.  We've been brewing up some big changes and I'm really excited to see where we're gonna go with it! 
* Volleyball Thursday--can't wait! now that we have new players, it's awesome!
* Lunch Thursday! (I may need to shower in town at the gym but oh well!)
* Saturday is a little Christmas party with our friends.

3 things I'm thankful for today...
1. 
The kids' musical at church! Incredible message--Even though I've observed nearly every practice and heard the lines a lot of times, I was still almost in tears the whole time. The Gospel will do that to ya, I guess. 
2. Tradition. Memories are so sweet. Tradition helps bond families together. Just love it. 
3. Parents. They are so supportive and come to the kids' events. They spend many hours on the road, but do it without a thought. They were always like that for me growing up and during college. And now they are like that for the grandkids. We are blessed.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Monday Meanderings - Dec. 1




Bible Study... still  praying thru the Psalms with the A.C.T.S. format. Just starting a group study on contentment. And another group study on Colossians.

Memory Verse...  Ephesians 4:29
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs."

Husband Encouragement...
♥ Just trying to keep the house tidy and need to get our bedroom dressers decluttered and dusted. 
♥ Need to catch up on housework today, and weekend things and Christmas things put away. 

Train Them Up...
* Continue being consistent with my nightly dinner helper routine. This is not only a good opportunity for quality 1x1 time with each child, but they are learning how to cook! AND learning to appreciate all the details involved in preparing a meal!
* Carter--he's our most strong-willed child and that's become very apparent and difficult lately. trying something new in handling these episodes (usually about once a week). >>WE HAD A GOOD WEEK LAST WEEK! No issues!
* Eli--trying to be a little more laid back and flexible with his homework these days. Really just want him to enjoy being home and getting to play as much as possible.
* Hannah--Been intentionally wearing the jewelry she's made for me, NOT just when she wants me to but just because sometimes too. Started a back-n-forth journal with her since she LOVES writing so much, she's so sweet!
* Need to get back to bedtime stories--not sure what happened to that!? Update: 2 chapters left in our chapter book we started in the fall! 
* Christmas traditions and activities start today! So excited and the kids are too!  =)  =)  
* Trying yet another thing with churchtime notes

Personal Goals...
>> I'm gonna be starting the "1 mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year's" challenge. Feeling so flubby these days... Struggling to get through the busy Thanksgiving weekend but hoping to get on a groove this week. 

New Habit of the Month...  {december}
intentional time with the kids. use my time WISELY.

MUST Do... 
* Put Christmas bins away. 
* Put away any remaining fall decor.
* Put weekend bags away and wash laundry.
* Bake cookies for Christmas program dress rehearsal.
* Draw pattern for doll clothes.
* Prep for any of this week's Christmas activities. (thank goodness we just do super simple ones)

Zone(s)... living room.

Menu - 

M - crab stew
T -  chicken, roasted potatoes
W - sandwiches
Th - cream cheese chicken chili
F - cocktail sausages
S - french dip

FUN THINGS!
* The first week of Christmas season! love it so much! the decorations, traditions, quality time together, memory making, and the anticipation of the coming of our Savior and how exciting that was and is!
* Monday's Bible study was cancelled so I have a coffee date instead. Yippee.
* Bible study Wednesday. We finished our book but decided to continue meeting with our own informal read of Colossians. 
* Volleyball Thursday--can't wait! now that we have new players, it's awesome!
* The kids' Christmas musical at church this weekend. It's the first program our church has done since we've been here, and it's going to be great!

3 things I'm thankful for today...
1. 
Our church family! I spent almost 10 straight hours at the church yesterday, with early morning music rehearsal, sunday school, church, christmas decorating, and then musical practice. but it didn't feel long at all because every part was great and surrounded by people I cherish!
2. Good friends. Love them.
3. Music. It lifts any moment.