10 Goals for Week of April 23, 2012

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

                                                 - Jimmy Dean

Last week's Goals

Personal:

1. Exercise 3 times this week - Back to doing in the AM - Still an ongoing struggle
2. Finish Montessori & Start A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller

Marriage:

3. Write a love note to Norm

Home school:

4. 3 Chapters Of Ramona the Brave
5. Plan date with Renae

Friendship:

6. Call a friend that I haven't spoken with in a long time
7. Send card for a friend's anniversary

Financial:

8. Fix Envelope system and get back on that horse

Home:

9.  Follow Moneysavingmom.com cleaning schedule
10. Clean car
11. Declutter bedroom

Menu Plan Monday - April 23, 2012

Good morning to all!  Hope that you had a great weekend.  It was a beautiful weekend and so we spent a fair bit of time outdoors.  My new veggie garden is continuing to do well and I can't wait for the day when I can harvest out of my own backyard!
We had a few change of plans from last week's menu and so you well see some of the choices reappear this week.

This Week's Menu:

Monday - Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken

Tuesday - Crock Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham Hock

Wednesday - Mediterranean Chicken and Mushroom Skillet- I haven't made this in a while but it is one of my favourite's.  It looks fancy but super easy!  My kind of dish!

Thursday - Hummus Crusted Chicken

Friday - Busy Day Pork Chops

Saturday -  - Date Night!

Sunday - Left Overs

I will be linking up to orgjunkie.com for menu plan Monday. 

Easter Pictures

I meant to give an Easter update, honest .....but before I knew it two weeks have already passed and I still hadn't posted anything yet! 

We did do an Easter egg hunt for the girls around the house when they woke up and it was so cute to see the excitement from Renae, and to watch Dakota try to figure out what was going on! I think Dakota would have been happy with just one egg....lol.

I received the following pictures from Jean.  We went to spend time with her and some close friends on Easter and had a great time.  The weather was perfect so it was great to spend some time together and catch a few rays at the same time.  Of course, being thoughtful like always, they had another egg hunt for the girls, complete with baskets and all......and since they were already professional egg hunters (from their previous experience) they found them all in no time at all!

10 Goals for Week of April 16, 2012

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

                                                 - Jimmy Dean


I missed doing this last week and man did I pay for it.  In reviewing last week, I didn't get nearly as much done as I had in previous weeks that I have been doing this.

So, I guess that says something huh?!?  Well, back to the grind stone.  So, starting fresh and moving forward here are this weeks 10 goals:

Personal:

1. Start Week 1 of 30 day Shred - I am shifting gears and I am going to try and do it in the evenings instead. Still didn't work.  It is just too busy already in the evenings......What was I thinking!

2. Finish reading Montessori at home and Calm My Anxious Heart

Marriage:

3. Plan Anniversary gift And bought!

Home:

4. Create a spring cleaning plan Instead of trying to recreate the wheel I decided to follow Money Saving Mom's link up for daily spring cleaning schedule! It started 10 days ago, but hey, better late then never.

5. Clean car

Financial:

6. Set appointment with Edward Jones to do annual review, Had to cancel and need to reschedule

Home school:

7. Read 3 Chapters of Ramona the Brave to the girls - Read 2 chapters

8. Create/implement Chore Plan for Renae Started today.  I will do a follow up post soon

Friendship/Church:

9. Buy Anniversary Card for Friend

10. Call a friend that I haven't spoken with in a long time
___________________________________________________________________________

This week's Goals

Personal:

1. Excercise 3 times this week - Back to doing in the AM
2. Finish Montesouri & Start A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller

Marriage:

3. Write a love note to Norm

Homeschool:

4. 3 Chapters Of Ramona the Brave
5. Plan date with Renae

Friendship:

6. Call a friend that I haven't spoken with in a long time
7. Send card for a friend's anniversary

Finnancial:

7. Fix Envelope system and get back on that horse

Home:

8.  Follow Moneysavingmom.com cleaning schedule
9. Clean car
10. Declutter bedroom

I will be linking up at moneysavingmom.com

Menu Plan Monday - April 16, 2012

Good morning to all!  Hope that you had a great weekend.  My flew by but in part because I had to work on Saturday.  So, as a result I put off putting my menu plan till this morning instead of last night.

I decided that I wanted to try out some new recipes this week.  Every once and I while I get tired of the same old same old and I try to come up with something new.  As usual, I find a lot more then just one recipe to try and so I end up with a whole week of new recipes!  So, wish my luck as I subject my family to .....hmmmm, that sounds good!

Since we are trying to eat healthier, I have found two websites geared towards just that.  Skinnytaste.com and sparkrecipes.com.  Go check them out if you are also searching for some inspiration.

This Week's Menu:

Monday - Ground Turkey and Cabbage

Tuesday - Spaghetti

Wednesday - 20 Minute Chicken Creole

Thursday - Crock-Pot Chili with corn, black beans and ground turkey

Friday - Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken

Saturday - Crock Pot Split Pea Soup with Ham Hock - I read that if you didn't have ham hock, you could just chop up some left over ham instead, which is what I intend to do.  Also, this recipe is only 3 weight watcher points!

Sunday - Left Overs

What do you have planned?  What are your resources when you are trying to find something new?

I will be linking up to orgjunkie.com for menu plan Monday.

10 Goals for the Week of April 9, 2012

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

                                                 - Jimmy Dean


I missed doing this last week and man did I pay for it.  In reviewing last week, I didn't get nearly as much done as I had in previous weeks that I have been doing this.

So, I guess that says something huh?!?  Well, back to the grind stone.  So, starting fresh and moving forward here are this weeks 10 goals:

Personal:

1. Start Week 1 of 30 day Shred - I am shifting gears and I am going to try and do it in the evenings instead.

2. Finish reading Montessori at home and Calm My Anxious Heart

Marriage:

3. Plan Anniversary gift

Home:

4. Create a spring cleaning plan

5. Clean car

Financial:

6. Set appointment with Edward Jones to do annual review, Had to cancel and need to reschedule

Home school:

7. Read 3 Chapters of Ramona the Brave to the girls

8. Create/implement Chore Plan for Renae

Friendship/Church:

9. Buy Anniversary Card for Friend

10. Call a friend that I haven't spoken with in a long time

I will be linking up at moneysavingmom.com

Menu Plan Monday - April, 9 2012

Well, I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Easter!  Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here and we got to see our dear friends Jean and Enrique.  They did an backyard BBQ - Fajita Style and I can't even begin to describe how awesome they were!  Let's just say - This girl didn't go home hungry!

I am working 3 times this week and so I tried to find easy to prepare ahead meals for those days so that I am not a slave to the kitchen on my off days.  (What I really need to be doing is freezer cooking but I just haven't taken the plunge into trying that out yet)

This week's meal plan is:

Monday - Saucy Honey Mustard Chicken

Tuesday - Sheppard's Pie

Wednesday - Sweet & Sour Pork

Thursday - Pot Roast (Crock Pot)

Friday - Hushia

Saturday - Chicken Potato and Vegetable Bake (Didn't get made last week)

Sunday - Left Overs

I will be linking up to orgjunkie.com.  They have many great link up's there, so if you are needing inspiration it is a great place to start!

New Years Resolution - March update

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.

- Jimmy Dean

For me, March was a great month for accomplishments!  For the first time I did a unit study with Renae and it turned out a great success!

Personal:

1. Start an exercise routine and stick with it - I am still struggling with this.  I just can't get motivated.

2. Cut down/out sweets -  I have improved on this though.  I have stopped the daily dip into the sweets area.  I think that I can make this even more significant by taking sugar out of my coffee and switching to Stevia.

3. Join Booking it on Lifeasmom.com and add 12 books of my choice to read on to of there list

(total of 24 book) -  I am disappointed on how far I have slipped in this department.  I haven't finished one book!  I keep plugging away, but never finished.....so......Montessori At Home by John Bowman.\, Calm My Anxious Heart - A Women's Guide to Finding Contentment - Linda Dillod, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller, and A Square Foot Gardening all which I hope to have complete in the next week or two.

4. Read Bible in 1 year following this plan (www.esv.org/biblereadingplans) - I am still about a two days behind but working steadily to catch up.

5. Compile a list of 12 habits to develop in a year and link up to report on moneysavingmom.com - Did this here.  Been pretty diligent about getting up early, although usually later then 4am.  March was implementing a morning routine which I was pretty successful with.  April will be develop an evening routine.

6. Learn to use our DSLR camera that we have owned for a few years but I have no idea how to

use. 

Marriage:

1. Read 2 Books Together - I finished reading 40 Unforgettable  Dates With Your Mate - Gary and Barbara Rosberg but Norm hasn't finished it yet.

2. Monthly Date Night - We did this and had a great time!

3. Read 3 books on marriage

Home:

1. Redo Home binder to work better for me. - Done, will post about this soon.

2. Involve Renae in chores - Still need to put this into action, I found some great ideas for this though.

3. Start Monthly "other" cleaning project (ie/baseboards, etc.)

4. Do monthly De clutter Project - Organizing and decluttering all of my preschool printouts - About half way done  Finished

Financial:

1. Switch to Cash only for Groceries and personal spending allowance - Continued with this.  And we pulled ahead!  Managed to put away some savings!

2. Redo monthly budget.....and stick to it - Done.

3. Save/buy "new-to-us" car for Norm - See #1!

4. Continue with investments - yep, right on track

Children/Homeschooling:

1. Monthly date with just Renae - Took Renae to Pump it Up for a Birthday party.

2. Swimming lessons for both girls - Started.

3. Continue to Pre-K Renae - yes, will be doing an update post soon. As I mentioned, we did a unit study for March and it was a huge success!

4. Make decision on schooling direction for Renae - Decided that we will be homeschooling Renae in the fall.

5. Finish alphabet and letter sound recognition and Teach Renae to read - ongoing

6. 1 field trip a month - Went to NASA!

7. At least 1 family vacation - need to budget for this

8. Read 10 read aloud books to the girls -  Finished reading Ramona the Pest - Beverly Cleary, and started Ramona the Brave

Friendship/church:

1. Send Birthday cards out early - Sent, but not early (sorry Jacob)

2. Send 1 note/card per month to encourage someone - Did this, Actually did 2!

3. Start attending church

4. Start getting involved in a homeschool group - Went to my first meeting of our local homeschooling community.  It was very informative.  

Blog:

1. Set up/follow weekly blog schedule -hmmmmm, haven't done set up let alone, follow through

2. Plan to blog posts 1 week in advance - see above

I am also linking up to moneysavingmom.com post here.  Come join in the fun of goal setting, it's not too late,.....think of all that you can accomplish once you put your mind to it! 

Menu Planning Monday - Week of April 2, 2012

Well, sorry for the late posting but I was working today and am only now getting a chance to show you what we have planned today.

I am trying to eat out of our pantry again so some of the meals are our "go to" meals that are quick and easy fixes, meaning, not a lot of ingredents required.  I find this is always a great way to go if there isn't much in the way of grocery "must buys" and therefore you end up saving money on the monthly grocery budget.

What are some ways that you find savings in your budget?

Monday - Sloppy Joes

Tuesday - Hummus Crusted Chicken (didn't get made last week)

Wednesday - Meatloaf

Thursday - Baked Soy Lemon Chops

Friday - Fish (any great recipes?  I am still searching)

Saturday - Chicken, Potatoe and Vegetable Bake

Sunday - Easter dinner at a friend's house.

I will be linking up to MPM (menu plan monday) at orgjunkie.com