Weekly Goals: November 29-December 5

We bought a few fun things like some $4 kids' pajamas on Black Friday, but for the most part we just window shopped this weekend.  However, I did splurge and get Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace on Amazon, and I used the coupon code HOLIDAY30 to save 30%!  You can use it too, to get 30% off any one book, until December 1st.  I'd suggest this one or this one, but you have many to choose from!

Last Week's Goals:

• Do some fun Thanksgiving projects with the kids. Done! You can read about those here. 
• Bring the Christmas decoration boxes up from the basement. Done!
• Eat some yummy food and enjoy time with family. Done!

This Week's Goals:

• Put up the Christmas tree and other decorations.  We don't have a ton, but I do have a few favorites that I like.
• Declutter a few specific surfaces that always bother me when I look at them: the shelf above the craft cupboard, the ledge in the upstairs hallway, and the top of the appliance island.
• List the rest of the lots of baby clothes on ebay.  I listed and sold one, although after shipping I only made about $3.00.  I'd like to try again, and hopefully make at least a little bit more.

25 Reasons Real Foodies Should Shop At Aldi from Kitchen Stewardship.

How An Introvert Makes A Phone Call from Coastal Conservatory.

Why Homeschooling From Fear Doesn't Work from Simple Homeschool.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.  This means that I receive a small commission when you purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support!

Teaching Gratitude To Little Kids

Every night before bed, we say a family prayer, and then each of the kids gets a chance to pray for something they're thankful for.  It is sometimes cute, sometimes silly, and sometimes, it's really difficult for them to think of even one thing.

I try to guide them with questions, like "What did you eat today?"  "What did we do today?"  But even then, they can't always put it into words.  I've talked previously about how I try to pray specifically for something I'm thankful for about my husband and each kid before bed at night.  Some days it's hard.  Some days I fall back on things I've already mentioned, which is okay, but it also serves as a reminder to look for different things as well.

So even though we didn't have any actual school time this week (it's one of our pre-scheduled break weeks), I wanted to do a few projects and activities to remind them of how blessed we are, and to have fun with a few turkey themed things as well.

We made turkey hats, tracing their hands and cutting them out.  Jonah did most of his on his own.  Matthew needed help cutting out his hands, and I did pretty much all of Hannah's.  But this was a good project for a wide age range.

Tuesday we made a thankful tree.  I used painters' tape to put this right on the wall next to our calendar.  There were a few repeats, but we had a good variety of things that the boys thought of that they were thankful for.  Again, this took a bit of prodding at first, but eventually they started coming up with their own ideas.

They each chose one of their thankful items to draw a picture.  In case you can't tell, Matthew drew a Lego book with a police car on it (left), and Jonah drew a turkey (right).

Yesterday, we finished off with a few more fun worksheets.  My kids love color-by-number (or letter) sheets and word searches, so I knew they'd enjoy these.

Worksheets can be found here:

• I Am Thankful For... worksheet
• Turkey Color By Letter worksheet
• Pilgrim Lady Color By Number worksheet

Happy Thanksgiving from our family!

KonMari: Paper Edition

It has been awhile since my last KonMari update.  In theory, the next category - papers - is not a difficult one for me.  But bit by little bit, I did have a few trouble areas that crept back into being clutter.  

First up: magazines.  I've let most of my subscriptions lapse as they ran out (and thankfully I haven't paid for a magazine in years - these are all freebie ones I've found posted on deals sites!), but I still get a few.  I do enjoy reading them, but I've gotten woefully behind.  So I committed to skimming through most of these over the past few days.  I pulled out recipes and a few other things that I wanted to save, and the rest got recycled.

Next up: recipes.  I print these on the back of old school papers, and if we like them, they go on notecards in my recipe binder.  My stack of recipes to copy over was eleven tall.  So I took twenty minutes and took care of that (and also cleaned out some less-loved recipe cards from in there).

Finally, my bill paying center.  I had a big stack of old bills to shred, and a few other things to recycle.  Overall, this 3-tier organizing tray is still working pretty well.

That means all I have left is komono (miscellaneous stuff).  I'm almost done then, right? Wink wink...

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.  If you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.  Thank you.

Weekly Goals: November 22-28

My baby girl turned one this week, and I had emotions about it.  This picture cracks me up, though.  "Why did they light my food on fire and start singing?!"

Last Week's Goals:

• Finish my KonMari of the papers. Done!  Look for a post later this week.
• Knit a few dishcloths. Done! Almost.  I did three, one each in each of the colors I have left of the cotton yarn, and now I'm working on a fourth one using up the little bit left of all three.  It might not be pretty, but it will work!
• Nail down my Christmas project and shopping list. Done!

This Week's Goals:

• Do some fun Thanksgiving projects with the kids.  I want to do some turkey things, but also try to find a few to focus on being thankful.
• Bring the Christmas decorations boxes up from the basement.  We're not starting the decorating until next week, but I'd like to have things up and ready to start.
• Eat some yummy food and enjoy time with family! 

The Vinegar Myth: Why Vinegar Is NOT A Great Natural Cleaner from Keeper of the Home.

The "How To Draw Monsters for Kids" video here is great!  And not just for kids...

The Freezer and Slow Cooker Connection: How to Easily Prepare a Bunch of Slow Cooker Recipes in Advance to Save Tons of Money from The Simple Dollar.

On Refugees, And Current Events, And Such

Can I be honest?  I don't keep up on current events very well since having kids.  I used to be so good about reading all the headlines, and really digging into topics that interested me through all sorts of print and online sources.  

And now?  Now I'm lucky if I know what day of the week it is and if it's going to rain or not.  Jesse told me the other day that someone dropped out of the presidential race, and my honest response was that I didn't even know he was running.

So take everything I say with that grain of salt.  

But for some reason, hearing about the attack in Paris and the effects it's having on the displaced Syrian refugees really struck a chord with me.  Maybe it's because I love Paris. Maybe it's because I'm naturally bullheaded, and when the first "close the borders and let no one in" posts started showing up, I immediately wanted to fight for all the innocent people.

And there's where it gets hard.  Are there thousands of people who legitimately need refuge, a safe place to live and be fed?  Absolutely.  Are some of the refugees terrorists in disguise?  Quite possibly.  Unfortunately, sin has made this world full of evil.

So I'm torn.  As a Christian, I want to offer not only physical help to people who need it, in the form of shelter, food, clothing, basic needs, but I also want to offer them Jesus.  This is a foreign mission field landing on our doorsteps, and these people need to hear about their Savior who loves them and who died for them.

But I also fear.  Not only has sin brought evil to this world, it has brought fear and worry and anxiety.  And so as a voting member, my inclination is to side with those who want to keep me and my family safe.  To not let in anyone who might harm us.

These two arguments don't get along.  

And maybe they don't have to.  If the government decides to let the refugees come here, I can show the the love of Jesus, up close, in person.  And if the government decides, for the good of the American people, not to let any Syrians come here, I can support that decision and look for other ways to help.  

I've seen ideas thrown out, that churches could sponsor families with monetary donations to help them resettle somewhere else.  That maybe it would be better for the Syrians to resettle somewhere closer to home, if that's possible.  It would be a way to help while still keeping our distance.  I think it's a smart plan, but I don't know how much it furthers the cause of sharing Jesus.  

All this sounds great now that I've written it down.  And it's easy to say from my living room in rural Iowa, where even if refugees relocated to my country, it's highly doubtful any of them would be anywhere near me.  So maybe I'm not the best person to listen to.  

But my mind goes to Matthew 25:35-40, which my husband just preached on recently. 

"'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'  

Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

I just feel like there has to be a better answer than accept all or accept none.

For more on this situation from people who express these things far better than I do:

• 3 Tips For A More Civil Conversation About Syrian Refugees from The Federalist.
• Building His Church In A Refugee Crisis from Desiring God.
• For Our Fight Is Not Against Flesh And Blood from The Humbled Homemaker. 

My Last Baby, But.

Today is my baby's first birthday.  She's my last baby, but.  The last one.  But. I'm ninety-nine percent (almost certain, nearly positive) that we're done. But.

I just can't quite bring myself to say it with any finality.

Part of it is physical.  My pregnancy with Elizabeth was hard.  I could barely move by the end of it.

You made me hurt.  I hurt more than I have ever hurt before, and there was no way of moving, no strange contorted position I could take, to make it stop.  There was only partial relief from the drugs when I was finally in labor.  Even at the end, it was one final jab after another.  

And from this, I grew to understand some small part of chronic pain.   I was terrible to deal with as I adjusted to the pain.  At first, I snapped at everyone.  I had no patience.  There was only survival, the next step.  I got better at it, but I was still short tempered and a bit mean.  Pain changes people, and I made it through only because I knew there was an end.  Eventually, you would be born, and I could hobble back to my new normal.

If I had to deal with this long term, for months, years, the rest of my life, I don't know if I would be strong enough.  It was the finish line that kept me going.  You taught me so much before you were even born.

Part of it is mental.  I don't do well when I don't get sleep.  And even though she sleeps okay most nights now, the past year I've come to rely on my coffee more than ever before, just to make sure I don't bite anyone's head off.

You make this sweet little shudder, a small sigh, and I know you're finally falling asleep.  I watch as you suck on your pacifier a few more times, then let it droop from you lips and hang limp like a rag doll, but I can't bear to put you in the crib quite yet.  I'd rather watch you sleep for a few moments of peace.  This is the you I want to remember, not the screaming terror from a few minutes before.

She's been the worst sleeper, the worst eater, and I've been stretched beyond belief with her.  Part of me is scared what a next child might be like.

I sat holding you, rocking you to sleep last week, and I stopped.  There had been many nights when we had been awake together, multiple times in the wee hours of the morning, but they had tapered off, and it hadn't happened lately.  When was the last time?  Last month?  Six weeks ago?  

All of a sudden the realization that you're not so much a baby hit me like a train, full force.

In the quiet moments, it's easy to imagine what another child might be like.  Would he have my nose?  Would she have her daddy's long eyelashes?  But in the moments of chaos, all I can do is hold on until daddy gets home, until naps, until bed.

You love to dance, and sing, and move.  Even without any words, just babbling, you have an exuberant personality.  When you are enjoying life, you show it.  You wear your heart on your sleeve, and I love it.

My last baby turns one today.  But.

Learning About Emotions

We entered the grocery store, and immediately came upon a display of juice for 99 cents.  I don't normally buy juice, but I decided to treat the kids for lunch.  I picked up a bottle of apple kiwi strawberry, put it in the cart, and started to make my way to the produce section.  And then the four year old laid down on the floor and screamed.  After a few minutes of calming him down, I learned he wanted "just apple" juice, not apple with stuff in it.

Later on, we got to nap time.  After listening to the cacophony of sisters talking and jumping in their beds for a little while, I went upstairs to change diapers.  Sister number one: check.  Sister number two: check.  Sister number one then told me that she peed again.  Sister number one again: check.

While trying to listen to a six year old who can't quite master the "ll" sound at the end of "hill" and "bill" get frustrated with reading, I scrambled to find another activity for the four year old that would keep him quiet.  I gave him a workbook page to color.  He fought with his sister over the markers, and then had a meltdown because he wanted to do the things his big brother was doing.

These are fairly everyday scenes for us.  Whether they're tired, or angry, or frustrated, my little people don't have complete control over their emotions.  Which means I'm supposed to have control of mine, so I can teach them.

I'm learning that I'm still far from a pro at most of this parenting stuff.  I practice patience as best as I can, but inside (and occasionally outside) I'm rolling my eyes at the back of the six year old's head as he reads.  I'm hugging the four year old and inwardly shaking my head that he wants things he can't have.  I'm sighing at changing another diaper.  I've perfected the deep sigh to the point that my husband sometimes mimics me, and it's kind of funny from the other side.

And I'm guiltily looking in the mirror realizing that I too get frustrated with things I'm not good at.  I too want things that I can't have and get upset when I can't have them.  I too want someone I love to take care of me, even if it's not the most convenient part of their day.

Even as an adult, I still have a lot to learn.  So I guess the kids and I will learn together.

Weekly Goals: November 15-21

Lately I've been making lots of goodies in the kitchen.  Above are the granola bars, and below is the cookie granola, both mentioned below.

Last Week's Goals:

• KonMari the papers. I started going through the magazines (pictured below).  I'll probably post on this either later this week or early next week.
• Try a new granola recipe and a new granola bar recipe.  Done! The granola bars were a hit.  The granola was just okay. I  think we're all too used to our regular granola.  But I did use up the canister of raisins we've had for forever, so that's something.
• Read The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig.  Not done.  I decided to just return this one to the library unread in lieu of catching up on a few other things.  I can always get it again.

I might have been a bit behind on my magazines...

This Week's Goals:

• Finish my KonMari of the papers! I will do it this week!
• Knit a few dishcloths.  I have some leftover cotton yarn from the last time I made these, and a few of mine have gotten holes and I've had to throw them away.  These only take a couple hours to make, so there's my tv-watching-project for this week.
• Nail down my Christmas project and shopping list.

Here's a few posts from others that caught my eye this week:

A New Minimalist Economy from Becoming Minimalist.

The Encyclopedia of Chicken Stock from Kitchen Stewardship.

From The Top Of The Proverbial Hill from The Art of Simple.

When Your Online Community Is Crowded & Your Real-Life Community Is Lacking from The Humbled Homemaker.

I'm also loving listening to Sarah Mackenzie from Amongst Lovely Things on Periscope.  She's been doing once a week longer scopes on homeschooling based on her book Teaching From Rest, which I really want to get my hands on soon.  (Thanks Sarah for suggesting her!)

Plastic Containers vs. Glass Containers

Am I the only one who likes peeking into other bloggers' kitchen cupboards?  It's like an up close and personal look at how you do food.  I also like seeing your house in an organized (or real life) state.  Really I just sound creepy now, but hopefully I'm not the only one who does this!

I've slowly been switching my food storage over from plastic to glass.  There are many posts about why plastic is bad and glass is good from a food safety perspective.  Glass also has other benefits too.

So the picture at the top of this post is where I am today.  I have a lot of glass jars and pyrex containers, but I also still have a fair amount of plastic containers.  The problem for me is that the size of container I use most is the individual portion square type, and most of those are plastic.  See that one with the green lid?  That's my only glass rectangle for leftovers.  Otherwise it's tiny bowls or big bowls.

So over the past week, I challenged myself to only use glass for food storage.  What that meant is that sometimes I had a small portion of leftovers in a large bowl.  It's not the most efficient use of space, but it did help me to see what I need more of.  I also realized that some of my baby glass bowls are currently hijacked in the freezer with chopped jalapenos, and it might be better to dump those all in one jar and use the bowls for other things.

I've already been doing a good job of saving things like homemade broth in jars, and I have a stash of baby food jars that I use when I make my own (although we're almost out of that stage already!).

If something is going to get reheated, that gets first dibs on a glass container.  If it's a bread product, or something that's going to be dumped out into another dish, it's not as big of a deal right now.  For now, for the transition, this works, at least when I'm intentional about it.

My big dilemma is freezer ziplocs.  And I don't know if that's an easy thing I'm willing to give up right now, because I use them a lot.  I use them for my freezer meals, for applesauce, for chopped veggies.  Basically for whatever I want to freeze that I don't have a container for.  And I don't know a good way to do my freezer meals not in a bag.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

What about you?  Do you use plastic, glass, or a mixture of both like me?

My One Tip For Making Cooking From Scratch Easier

I make a lot of food from scratch.  It takes time, and energy, and it's not always the most fun thing to do (although I found a way to make the time more enjoyable!).  But there's one thing that always makes cooking from scratch easier.  

I do the dishes first.  

Here's before:

The counter has remnants of the first half of the day, and there's not a ton of workable space.  But with the dishes done?  Lots of room:

You'll notice there are still a few dirty dishes in the second photo.  That's because cups, bowls, plates, and silverware are done by the boys after dinner.  So I just did my dishes.  Most of theirs stay in one half of the double sink.

I first got the idea of having a completely clear counter from Crystal at Money Saving Mom.  And I loved it!  I'm a big fan of cleared off flat surfaces.  I think they look so much nicer, and they help keep me calm.  That's why I make sure to do all the dishes and have this counter cleared off 99% of the time before I go to bed.

Everything is easier with a clear counter.  You have space for all your ingredients and pans and bowls and a helper or two.  And when you're done, all that's left are a few dirty dishes.

Weekly Goals: November 8-14

I wanted to try making bulletproof coffee.  At first, I was going to do a bit of sugar, butter, and coconut oil.  Then I realized I only had salted butter.  So I went with 1 Tbsp. of coconut oil, 1 Tbsp. of sugar, and 1 Tbsp. of homemade chocolate syrup for a bulletproof mocha.  It was a little more coconut-y than I expected, but really yummy!

Last Week's Goals:

• Try bulletproof coffee.  Done!  Pictured above.
• Sell the books or pack them away. Not done, but started!
• KonMari the papers.  Not done.

This Week's Goals:

• KonMari the papers.  I've figured out that my main areas are my filing station with all of the bills, my magazines, and the homeschool papers/projects.  We'll see if I find any more "paper" things as I get going on this.
• Try a new granola recipe and a new granola bar recipe.  The granola is called Oatmeal Cookie Granola from the More Peas, Thank You cookbook.  The granola bar recipe is here, and I was going to make it last week, but I was out of coconut oil.
• Read The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig.  I probably should have waited to request this from the library, because I only have a week until it's due and I haven't started it yet.  Oops!

Some links in this post are affiliate links.  If you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.  Thanks for supporting Kate's Great Crafts!

Inside Out Movie Review

Image Source

Jesse and I watched this movie the other day, and it really messed with my emotions (pun only kind of intended).  At one point during the movie, as I was ugly crying, I even turned to him and said, "I'm too emotional to watch a movie about emotions!"

I think the reason it affected me so much is because the movie centers around Riley, an eleven-year-old girl who is dealing with a cross country move.  I've been the eleven-year-old girl, guys.

We moved a lot when I was younger.  And I didn't always deal with it well.  The plot for the movie is that there are a couple hiccups in the brain headquarters, and Joy and Sadness and the core memories get lost in the brain, leaving Disgust, Fear, and Anger to run the show.  But behind all this is a little girl trying to figure out how to cope with all of the changes in her life.  And honestly?  Those are the emotions that come to the forefront for a little girl who isn't good at dealing with change.  Actually, those are the emotions that come to the forefront for most people when they're dealing with change.

I know, I know, I'm behind the curve on this one because the movie came out months ago, but it did just release on dvd, which is why we're watching it now.  I really really liked this one.  I could relate to the scenes of the parents with a baby, because we're the parents, but I could also really relate to Riley.

Also, this is a complete side note, but both Jesse and I noticed it.  Riley, the daughter, is mainly controlled by Joy.  The mother, on the other hand, has Sadness in charge, and the dad has Anger running the show.  What's up with that?

The Trouble With Ideas...

I have ideas.  I have lots of ideas, constantly swirling around through my brain.

Part of this is because I like to fill my brain with inspiring things, like reading books and listening to people talk on Periscope, and following blogs.

Part of this is because I have goals.  I have things I want to accomplish, like losing weight, trying new recipes, and working on projects, whether writing or KonMari or kid-related.

The trouble with ideas, though, is that they multiply.  They feed each other.  And it can get overwhelming.

I combat this by making lists.  If you've read my blog for any period of time, you know I'm a pen and paper list girl.  I love making lists, categorizing my ideas, and crossing things off.

For instance, this list of lists from earlier this week.  I was even feeling behind on some of the things I do for fun, so I made an entertainment list to catch up on, and felt instantly better.

Unfortunately, sometimes I get stuck in list-making mode.  I get all of my ideas written down, and then I don't act on any of them, because either I haven't broken things down into small enough steps, or because something about the next step scares me.

I'm trying to solve those problems.

I haven't broken things down into small enough steps.  For example, one of my projects this week is to try to sell some books on various online sources.  I've made a list (of course!) of four sites from various blog posts I've read recently about where to sell books.  So my next step is to check the prices.

But that's probably not a good enough next step, because I have three boxes of books times four websites, and I usually only have half hour snippets of time (if that) to work on things.  So maybe my next step needs to be "test check about ten books on each site to get a feel for what they might take and what their prices might be".  That seems like a more manageable feat than doing ALL THE BOOKS.  From there, I can decide if I want to continue to use all four, or if only one is suited to my needs.  Or maybe I'll discover that no one wants my books, and then, I'm done!

So my first problem is solved by me taking a little bit more time to check my lists, and make them work better for me.  That's pretty easy.  It will just take practice.

On to my next problem.

Something about the next step scares me.  This one is harder, because it often means doing something outside of my comfort zone.  I put off making dentist appointments for my children for a few months (months!) because I don't like talking on the phone.  I never have, and it makes me uncomfortable.

Image Source

I read a quote once that said, "Do something that scares you every day." I don't know if I can handle that, but I think one thing that might help me get out of my comfort zone more is to actively get out of my comfort zone more.

One of the ways I'm doing that right now is through this blog.  I'm posting about things that scare me, like the fact that I started writing a book.  I'm posting about my vulnerabilities, like my fear of failing.  It's not the easiest thing that I've ever done, but it's authentic, and it's actually a little bit therapeutic, to put words out there and to know that at least a few people are reading them.

I don't know if practicing this will make it easier.  I hope so.  Because great things can happen once you no longer have fear holding you back.

If Something Is Bothering You, Fix It!

I've posted previously about our homeschool room set-up, and not too much has changed since that post.  But one thing kept bothering me.  I use my Grandma's sewing machine as an extra table to hold my teaching manuals, and I bought some bookends a few months ago to hold them up.

But.  They are short bookends, and they kept falling down.  And I use these books every day we do school.  And it bugs me every day.

I finally had the brilliant idea to switch them with the bookends on top of the dining room bookshelf after I went through the books KonMari style last month. Because now there's only a few books on top of the shelf, so the small bookends work just fine up there, and the large ones hold up my manuals much better.

It took me two months of something bothering me almost every day to do something about it, guys.

Don't be like me.

If something is bothering you, fix it!  FIX IT.  I cannot stress this enough.

I realize not all problems are as easy to solve as my bookends.  But surely there must be something you can do.  Something that can move you toward a solution.

Maybe taking the first step is scary.  And that's okay.  But if it's bothering you anyways, is failing, or messing up, really going to be much worse?

Living Well Spending Zero Challenge: Final Thoughts

Making snake cookies for a yummy treat from ingredients we already had: free!

The Living Well Spending Zero Challenge for October has come to an end.  (You can read my initial thoughts here and the mid-month update here.)

So here's my confession: After we took the trip for my brother's wagon, and since we had that credit on our credit card, we fell off the wagon.  We ordered food a couple times, got coffee and lunch in Waterloo, and basically broke all the rules we set in place at the beginning of the month.  Ugh!

Apparently we are the type of people who can stick to something for as long as everything is normal and nothing "extra" comes up.  Which is not normal life, guys.  So we have to work on that.

The silver lining is that the credit on the credit card paid for the extra things, not money out of our checking account.  So we're not out any extra money.  We just didn't use our money as effectively as we could have.

Beans for homeschool science project in containers from the recycling: free!

Here's where we did reasonably well: grocery shopping.  At the end of the month, my grocery total was $289 and change.  Not quite the $275 I was aiming for, but I also grabbed a few extras to cover meals through November 5, so a few extra dollars for a few extra days is good in my book.

Even though we failed at zero spending, we did eat out far less than the past few months.  As my husband reads to me sarcastically from the markerboard, "Small goals are better than no goals."  A bit of progress is still progress, and we're going to keep working on this.

We also paid off $1445 in debt this month.  Some of it was a reimbursement for travel expenses from a conference Jesse went to, which we had put on a credit card, but had this been a normal month instead of a no-spending-challenge month, we may not have put the entire check towards paying things off.  We also got some extra money this month from other things, which again, would not all have gone towards debt repayment if this had been a normal month.  It should, guys, it should.  But I'm just being honest here.  We're still not very good at this.

If you're familiar with Dave Ramsey, you know we're supposed to be "gazelle intense" about paying off debt.  We're pretty gimpy gazelles, guys.  But we're trying.

Weekly Goals: November 1-7

This year for Halloween we had a ninja, Superman, and Super Kitty, who moved so fast I never did get much of a picture of her.  And a haul of candy.

Last Week's Goals:

• Try bulletproof coffee. Not done. 
• Check prices to sell books online.  Not done, but I at least got them all in one place in the corner of the living room, so I should be all set.  I think my problem is that I want to check four sites for each book at one time, so then I can box up the set of books for each site.  And that seems like such a time consuming thing that I haven't done it.  Maybe I just need to check a few, pick the site that looks the most promising, and go for it.
• Figure out trick or treating. Done!  I took the boys around the neighborhood, and then we all went to the nursing homes.  We didn't hand out candy.

This Week's Goals:

• Try bulletproof coffee.
• Sell the books or pack them away to take them to the used bookstore.
• KonMari the papers.  

It's been awhile since I linked up articles that I like and that are making me think.  Here's a few I've found lately.

Dear Mom Who's Done Having Babies from The Humbled Homemaker.

When The Dust Settles: Thoughts on Moving from Holy Hen House.

Get Your Kids Hooked on Shakespeare in Five Easy Steps from Simple Homeschool.

The Most Important Part of Any Language Arts Curriculum from Life Your Way.