20 Best Tips

My Goals for November

Nov32014
November 3, 2014 by 1 Comment

Since I’m the type of girl who does well with a list and gets motivated crossing off things that are done, I’ve been working on my November goals. The last few months I’ve been dividing my goals into several different areas: personal, parenting/family, marriage, home, and school.

living room before

This month we have a home project in the works: bookcases in our living room, which translates into some rearranging all over the house (translated a big, fat mess and lots to do before hand). I’ll have to show you the after pictures later this month, but here’s a before of the area we’re re-doing.

There’s a lot to do in several rooms as we move things around, but I’m thankful for it because it ultimately means de-cluttering, reorganizing, and making sure the stuff we have is actually stuff we NEED. The process can be a pain, but the end result will give us a central place for the kids to work on the computer and so much more book storage (yay!).

Anyway, here are my goals for the month of November (and if you’d like a cute printable to plan away on, check out this one from Money Saving Mom):

Personal Goals

  1. Finish morning routine (devos, shower, etc…) by 7am (a.k.a. out of bed and ready)
  2. Treadmill total of 1 hour/week
  3. Do better with what I’m eating and drink more water (this has slipped lately)
  4. Read 30 minutes/day (non-fiction) and finish 1-2 books on list a week. See my November list here.

Parenting/Family Goals

  1. Watch parenting DVD series w/Rick:  based on Loving Our Kids on Purpose
  2. New game of month and play games together 2x/week
  3. Read aloud w/kids and audio books (finish 2 books)
  4. Follow through with chores – be consistent
  5. Prep for the weekend away with McKenna – it’s coming up soon!
  6. Keep our daily ‘quiet time’ with the kids going and consistent

Marriage Goals

  1. Send sweet (and fun) notes/texts to my hubby
  2. Date night with Rick – 2x/month (home or out)
  3. Movie night at home – 2x/month
  4. Work on budget together and be accountable in finances

Home Goals

  2. Paint fireplace
  3. Be consistent with 20 Minute Tasks each day: focus areas are living room, dining room, and the books all over the house
  4. Keep counters clean each night
  5. De-clutter and sell stuff on Craigslist (my pile is growing)

Homeschooling Goals

  2. Group science experiments with the kids
  3. Start online Spanish with the boys
  4. One fun activity for Kaleb and Zachary each week
  5. Finish reorganizing the schoolroom (touch up paint and banister)

What goals do you have for yourself and your family this month?

Sponsor Thanks for November

We really appreciate the following companies. Many of these have been long time sponsors of Homeschool Creations and we are SO thankful for them – be sure to stop by their sites and check them out!

Christian Homeschool convention
Homeschool High School Science Tutorials

Teach Them Diligently Conventions are now open for registration! Speakers for 2015 include James Dobson, Barbara Rainey, and many others. Locations include Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Sandusky, OH; and Dallas, TX. Hope to see you at one of them!

Red Wagon Tutorials offers upper level science help for homeschool families worldwide. They specialize in downloadable, online live-feed, and online recorded science classes as well as digital e-Notebooks and Flash Drive presentations. Learn more about their 2014-2015 programs.

Spanish homeschool for kids Educents Apologia Biblical worldview curriculum Hands-on Bible for kids Chewigem sensory products for chewing

Celebrate Advent this year reading the newest book from Anne Voskamp, Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. The book includes daily devotions for children of all ages and is beautifully illustrated!

 Does your child have a need to fidget or chew?  Chewigem has the discreet, FUNky solution to soothe these needs.

Apologia offers a Christian worldview curriculum that kids will love. Featuring engaging stories, creative notebooking, and fun activities, this four-part series is presented in a conversational style that makes the study of God’s Word exciting and memorable.

Educents is a curated deal website that discounts homeschooling curriculum and educational products up to 90% off! Save an additional 10% with code HSCreations10.

Speekee is the most comprehensive online Spanish program for children ever created. Children learn best when they are having fun, and that’s what Speekee is all about!

The Hands-On Bible  uses experience-based learning to communicate God’s Word in an active, understandable way for kids. This Christmas, don’t just commit to reading God’s Word as a family; give the Hands-On Bible to your kids, and commit to doing God’s Word together.

Reader’s Favorite Posts from October 2014

Curious to see what others have been reading this past month? Below is a list of the ten most visited posts for the month of October 2014.

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Filed Under: 20 Minutes of Productivity, My Ramblings 1 Comment

My 20 Minute Task Update

Aug212014
August 21, 2014 by 3 Comments

Two weeks ago I shared a 20 minute productivity tip with you all and thought it might be fun to show you some of the progress that has happened in our home over the last little bit. Because (let’s face it), sometimes it’s tough to get motivated, but being able to look back and see what you have accomplished can be a HUGE help to get moving! 

Productivity TIp

Again I’m going to mention that 20 minutes seems like such a short block of time, but it really is amazing what you can do in that short time frame – especially if you are racing against the clock! With me being a little bit competitive (even with myself), it’s been great because I want to see results and get the task done.

And p.s. – I’m sharing true before pictures because the honest truth is our house can quickly turn into a disaster area because there are six people who live in our home and although I can be organized…LIFE HAPPENS. It isn’t perfect and that is okay. Really, truly.

Laundry Room Before and After

Our laundry room was the first spot on my list to tackle. We walk through this room every.single.day on our way in from the garage and it quickly becomes a ‘collection zone’ and turns into a mess. In 20 minutes I managed to: start a load of laundry, scrub the stains out of the carpet under the sink, clean out the nasty corner behind the washer, sweep and wet cloth the floor, vacuum the area rug, clean up the top of the washer and dryer – and DONE!! Feels SO much better in there now!

jacket area garage

In the interest of ‘keeping it real’ and letting you all know that ALL IS NOT ALWAYS ORGANIZED in our home, the pictures of our garage started going up this week. Oh the shoes and stuff that accumulate with all of us.

shoe area garage

Overall, the garage was a bigger task, so I broke it up into 5 sections and focused on one section for each 20 minute task. That was such a help and now we can actually get out of the car without tripping on something. Half of the stuff just needed to be moved an extra few feet to be put away. Laziness can honestly be the biggest enemy – we’re in a ‘rush’ to get somewhere or someone doesn’t take the extra 15 seconds to put it away where it goes.

image

Sometimes 20 minutes means a little bit of mom pampering time! My nails were wrecked and my thumb nail that recently split and has a weird bump. There was something else that I worked on around the house too that day, but the 20 minutes taken to do my nails was well worth the sit down!

I’ve been trying to share my daily 20 minute challenges with a before/after picture on my Facebook page photo stream everyday (around 2pm) in case you are interested in following along or joining in! There have been other pictures shared there, so if you are interested in seeing what I’ve been working on, feel free to visit there and chime in with what you are working on too!

So – what tasks do you have hanging over your head? Have you been trying to work along with me? Set the timer for 20 minutes and go for it! (I promise it will be worth it!).

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Filed Under: 20 Minutes of Productivity 3 Comments