It's hard to believe that September is done as of today! We've had a super busy month with swimming while we still could, field trips, a family fun day, and, well, school. The weather cooled off which always makes me want to do things :-)
Here's the recap of what was accomplished in September - I feel good about what was done!
1. Finances - I'm working on sticking to a budget this month that includes getting the bills paid (of course) and then saving for other things that are coming up in the next 3-4 months (Like birthdays and Christmas) It was perfect, but I really worked hard on not spending unplanned money, not eating out (as much), and tracking everything. I'm ready for October (on paper at least) and hope to do even better.
2. Menu planning - my goal this month is to be intentional about menu planning. Planning meals that we enjoy, keeping the grocery budget in line, not running to the store multiple times in a week and not eating out on nights where it is easier than cooking. We've done really well at eating at home. I've also done really well and planning and not needing to make extra trips to the store!
3. Deep clean the bathroom and also update the art on the walls. This is done!! I also "deep cleaned" the living room, dining room, and master bedroom. HA! Cooler weather gives me energy!
4. Create and tweak our school schedule this month. I always start out the month with ideas I want to implement but those ideas have to be tweaked throughout this first month of school. We seem to already have a good routine that makes it easy for all of us to get school done.
5. Another school goal is to help the boys be more independent in their online classes. The "easiest" class to do that in is math so my September goal is to have them doing their math lessons by themselves by the end of the month. Why? Because the more independent they are, the more they can direct their time. For example, if one boy wants to start his lessons at 8;00 AM and get everything done by 11:00 - they have to do it independently. If I have to do all subjects with both of them, they have to rely on my schedule to get work done. This is a true work in progress. Fifth grade is introducing lots of new concepts so Josh still needs help; Nate has been able to do more on his own. What we have tried to do is figure out what they CAN do on their own; then I schedule my time to sit with them. That seems to be working!
6. Camp - we have a camping trip scheduled. I need to plan the details, pack, load and go! We had to cancel our camping trip for various reasons but we did spend a day out as family; ending up at the beach.
7. Look for other fun, inexpensive, things we can do as a family. I use facebook to help me by clicking "interested" on lots of activities that pop up so I can remember them later! We've done a few things - my family members are home bodies so sometimes, just staying home makes them happy !!
8. Read. It's time to get back to reading. I need to go back to my challenge of years ago and pick out 4-6 books I want to read each month and post about it! I did get through two books this month, I believe. It helped once I got my contacts fixed since now I can see :-)
9. Update my holiday journal and also read through the items for Thanksgiving and Christmas from last year so I'm prepared! I finally did this yesterday!
10. Get Halloween costumes for the boys Done!
11. Purchase Josh's Birthday Presents this month. This is always a stretch but I'm hoping I can accomplish this.I have all but one purchased and I should be able to pick that up by the end of the week.
12. Follow the flylady schedule I have weekly.This I did not do.
13. Scrapbook - I'd like to finish 2015 - I just have December to finish so it is doable if I take time to scrapbook this month! I did it! 2015 is done!!!
14. Scrapbook - I'd like to spend 2-3 hours a week scrapbooking. With football season coming, I'm thinking I can scrapbook on Sunday afternoons while watching football . . . but sometimes, Sunday afternoons are my do nothing times - so we will see! There's a scrapbook weekend in October I'm hoping to attend so I need to register for that soon! I did scrapbook for more than 3 hours! I decided not to sign up for the weekend; I can set up at home and get just as much done in my PJ's!
15. Bake. Breads, fun desserts, cookies. Just one little thing a week. I baked a blueberry and apple crisp - both new recipes.
16. Clean out my truck - once swimming has wrapped up, I will need to clean out the summer stuff and make sure it is ready for winter. This is on the plan for this coming week.
17. Sort the photos I ordered several months ago and see what I need to order next. Order at the end of the month.Done!
18. Have the boys try on all of their fall/winter clothes and see what we need. I automatically know that they both need boots HA! We are still wearing shorts so I have not done this yet
19. Plan out the topic/class I want to teach next semester at our co-op.I've picked out my ideas (actually about 3 of them) and now I just need to do some more research and make a decision.
So, over all, it was a great month for goals!!!
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