What I'm Reading...

I've been participating in 31 Reasons I Love My Husband for the month of August. You can see all of my pictures over on Instagram.

The Care And Feeding Of Your Microbiome. This is a longer post, but worth the read! There's lots of good information here about the good bacteria in your gut. (Kitchen Stewardship)

The Meal-Planning Binder: The Easiest Method Of Meal Planning Ever! I have a binder with our favorite recipes in it, but it consists of our favorites from the last four years or so, half on note cards and half printed out, and there are many that we don't use any more because our eating habits have shifted.  It's a good idea, but mine is badly in need of reorganization! (Little House Living)

We HAVE The Time...We Just Don't MAKE It. This is a good reminder that you always have a choice in how you spend your time (Andrea Dekker)

The Easiest Way To Organize Your Stuff. Couldn't have said it better myself. (The Minimalists)

For The Love Of Reading: Make Each Story A Celebration.  I don't always feel like it, but I know my kids love when I do certain voices for certain stories. (The Happiest Home)

On Feeling Overwhelmed And Just Doing The Next Thing

Yesterday, I woke up in a bad mood.  I'm sure part of it had to do with the fact that it was Hannah's first night without her pacifier, and she was up crying for awhile in the early morning hours.  And part of it was because I was thinking over all of the things I had on my to do list for the next couple weeks.  I'm still very much in the midst of homeschool planning, trying to get the overall resources mapped out, and the specifics of the first month.  Vacation Bible School is next week and I'm teaching the stories.  I'm the only organist at church now. I have to remember to buy these five things at the grocery store.  And so on and so forth.

All of a sudden, I felt very overwhelmed.

Earlier this summer, I made a specific effort to start getting rid of extra commitments in my life so I wouldn't feel stressed out, but a few things have crept back in, and there are some that are extra for right now, that won't normally be on my plate, but they're all at the same time, which makes it hard.  I know I need more margin in my life, and I'm hoping that once I get past this couple-week span of crazy I can fall back into a calmer routine.

So instead of looking at the big list of everything that needed to be done, I focused on just doing the next thing.  This isn't a new idea by any means, but every now and then I need a reminder to just focus on the small steps.

I printed out the calendar pages for my homeschool binder and hole punched them.  I made a list of science activities to copy from a book I borrowed from the library.  I chopped a veggie for dinner.  I did the dishes. I picked art projects for two more weeks of school.  None of these things took a lot of brainpower, but they helped me feel like I was making progress.  They helped me feel a little bit less overwhelmed.

When I look at my to do list, it still keeps getting longer.  There's still a lot to be done before VBS, before school starts, before Elizabeth is born, before Christmas.  But I'm just a few steps closer.

Weekly Coupon Shopping

Target

I used a bunch of coupons to get some things for free (or nearly free)!

• 8 Up & Up Pocket Folders and 4 Up & Up Notecards: $0.50 each. Used four $1.50/1 Target printables = all free!
• 5 Post-It Notes: $1.02 each. Used four $1/1 Target printables and one $1/1 Target mailer = $0.10/5, or $0.02 each!
• 5 Scotch Tape: $1.02 each. Used four $1/1 Target printables and one $1/1 Target mailer = $0.10/5, or $0.02 each!
• 2 Suave Conditioners: $0.94 each. Used $1/2 Target mobile and two $0.50/1 printables = 2 free!

CVS

There wasn't much I wanted at CVS this week, but we still eat cereal for breakfast a couple times a week, so I stocked up on that.

• 8 Kellogg's Cereals: $1.99 each. Used two $1/2 printables and four $1.50/1 printables (Kellogg's Rewards) = paid $7.92, got $5ECBs for spending over $15.
• Kit Kat: $0.99. Used $0.74/1 (CVS coupon machine) = paid $0.25.

August Goals

I can't believe it's a new month already! I feel like this summer has just flown by, and we're already almost to school time.  Starting the I-don't-have-enough-ready-yet freak out...

Parenting:

• Start teaching Hannah how to eat with utensils. 
• Get rid of Hannah's pacifier (this was my goal in June and we still haven't done it).
• Continue weekly library trips. We've been doing this for a couple weeks now and everyone is enjoying it!

Homeschooling:

• Plan my first 3 Science Units.
• Order my math curriculum and plan the first two months.
• Plan A through D in Letter of the Week.

Blogging:

• Post our specific homeschool curriculum.
• Do at least 2 craft projects and post about them.  Each month there are two Iron Craft challenges, so I should manage this, but maybe I'll get ambitious and have more. We'll see.

I think that's probably enough, because with gearing up for homeschooling I'll be busy!

What I'm Reading...

Matthew enjoying hot chocolate for a snack earlier this week, per his request.

Can you tell homeschooling has been on my mind lately?  Slowly but surely, I am getting closer to being ready to start.

The Two-Years-Of-Kindergarten Approach For Fall Babies.  This is kind of what we're doing with Jonah, except we are mixing pre-K and Kindergarten materials into our mix this year, and we'll see where we end up at the end of the year. (Life Your Way)

Living On ONE Small Income As Homeschooling Families (Free Homeschool Deals) and When You Have No Money For Homeschool Curriculum (Simple Homeschool) were both good reminders that homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive, especially in these first years where it's more about the process of learning than a specific curriculum.

More And Better Words For Difficult Kids.  I read once that for each negative word or event a child experiences, it takes four positive ones to make up for it.  Positive words, and lots of them, will help kids. (The Art Of Simple)

4 Tips To Stop Eating Out Even If You Hate To Cook.  I don't hate cooking by any means, but we do eat out more often than I'd like (and yes, more often than our menu plans show, especially when we end up in town around lunch time).  When I spend more at the grocery store on foods we'll like and extras for snacks, we stay home more.  For some reason I have a much harder time parting with the money at that point though, which is dumb, because it's a lot less money overall. (Money Saving Mom)

My Plan To Stay Offline And On At Home.  "Then it happens – the whine! an item gets broke! the child gets hurt! I grit my teeth in frustration as my kids have distracted me from… my distraction… wait?" I get this way a lot, and I don't really have a good solution. (Holy Hen House)

How Much Food Is Enough? Reading this, I know I am guilty of overlooking the mass of food that we have in our house in favor of a trip to the grocery store to fill out the menu plan. But we have plenty. (The Nourishing Home via Don't Waste The Crumbs)

Menu Plan August 1-15

In the past week I tried two recipes from Pinterest, both of which were delicious!  First was a half recipe of Chocolate Pudding Pops with Avocado, because I had half an avocado with no purpose.  They were really good, and Jonah didn't believe me when I told him there was avocado in them. Definitely doing that again if I have extra avocado (how many times can I say the word 'avocado'?)

The second was One Bowl Oatmeal Blender Pancakes, which I made so Hannah could have them too.  I modified the recipe a bit based on what we had (1 banana instead of two, 2 eggs instead of one, and no flax), and they turned out great!  We'll be having those again soon.

I went over my grocery budget by about $50 last month ($20 was picking our own strawberries, but I was still over by quite a bit).  So this month I'm going to attempt to do much better than that! Here's the first half...

Friday, August 1
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Sweet Corn, Apple Slices
Dinner: Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits

Saturday, August 2
Breakfast: Eggs and Toast
Lunch: Pinto Bean and Ground Turkey Taco Salads
Dinner: Thai Peanut Chicken Wraps

Sunday, August 3

Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Lunch at the minor league baseball game
Dinner: Pinto Bean and Ground Turkey Taco Salads

Monday, August 4

Breakfast: Eggs and Toast
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: BLTs

Tuesday, August 5

Breakfast: Yogurt and Homemade Granola
Lunch: Chicken Fajita Soup with Rice
Dinner: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Wednesday, August 6

Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Sweet Potatoes
Lunch: Leftover Chicken Fajita Soup with Rice
Dinner: Leftover Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Thursday, August 7

Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Jelly Blueberry Banana Muffins
Lunch: Turkey Bacon Wraps
Dinner: Salmon, Broccoli, Rice

Friday, August 8

Breakfast: Muffins
Lunch: Turkey Bacon Wraps
Dinner: Pancakes and Eggs

Saturday, August 9

Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Sweet Potatoes
Lunch: Cheeseburgers
Dinner: Grill Out Hot Dogs and Brats, Crockpot Baked Beans

Sunday August 10

Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Leftover Hot Dogs, Brats, and Baked Beans
Dinner: Ratatouille 

Monday, August 11

Breakfast: Southwest Frittata
Lunch: Leftover Ratatouille
Dinner: Chicken Salads

Tuesday, August 12

Breakfast: Leftover Southwest Frittata
Lunch: Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Dinner: Chicken Salads

Wednesday, August 13

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Sausage Zucchini Potato Soup
Dinner: Black Bean Fajita Casserole

Thursday, August 14

Breakfast: Yogurt and Homemade Granola
Lunch: Leftover Sausage Soup
Dinner: Leftover Fajita Casserole

Friday, August 15

Breakfast: Eggs and Toast
Lunch: Quesadillas
Dinner: Chicken Stir Fry

July Goals Update

I actually accomplished most of my goals for the month of July! Love it when that happens!

Parenting:

• Get back into daily reading time with the kids, at least 5 days a week. I didn't necessarily keep track of this, but I think we did okay. Not great, but okay. Part of our homeschooling schedule will include a weekly library trip, as well as daily reading time, so that will help too.
• Teach the kids another hymn verse.  We learned I Pray Thee, Dear Lord Jesus for another night-time prayer.

Organizing:

• Put away Hannah's too small clothes and check the next size up to see what we have for girl clothes, and make a list of what we need. Done!
• Check Jonah and Matthew's next-size-up clothes as well, and make a list of what we need. Done!

Personal:

• Finish reading Sugar, Salt, Fat, plus read 2 more books.  I didn't finish Sugar, Salt, Fat yet (I got on a fiction kick instead), but I did read 8 books this month!
• Make at least 2 craft projects.  I made a 4th of July door hanger with the kids, finished a few small projects which you can see in this post, and made an ornament and a flower embellishment for Iron Craft. 

Blog:

• Post at least one content post per week. Done!
• Find a consistent time each week to work on the blog. Not done, but I did carve out at least two afternoons during naptime most weeks to write and plan things.  Not consistent, but it worked, so I think that's good enough.