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December 2017 Planner Pages – Free Printable

DECEMBER IS IN A FEW DAYS, PEOPLE!!

You know how long the year seems on the first of January, and then suddenly you are scrambling to grab the things you need last minute for Christmas. Yeah, that’s about where I’m at right now. 

We still have some school to wrap up for this month before we take a break, but hopefully we will be able to get it all in before my hubby has his vacation time. As much as we try, it’s so hard to work on anything when he is home (and he reads my blog and is likely nodding his head in agreement). For us, that means a good solid three weeks (maybe three and a half depending on cooperation levels) and then we have a nice break and some travel days planned in as well. 

Laurianna will be wrapping up her first semester’s classes at the community college in two weeks, so it will be nice to have her home a bit more, at least until her next round of classes start in January. Again – time is flying and I can’t believe she is just four class periods shy of completing her two classes. It’s really been exciting for both of us and a great learning experience! 

Needless to say, December is a great month to feel like I am on top of things, especially with all the social events that are coming up as well.  If you’d like to get organized along with me, you can download the December 2017 Personal Planner Pages and try them out this month. I truly hope they are a help to you in the upcoming days.  

A Peek Inside My Planner

If you’d like to take a look at how I’ve set up my yearly planner, I’ve explained it more in this post here, as well as given links to my favorite binder and colorful tabs (because pretty makes life fun too, right?).

Yearly Planner example from Homeschool Creations-5

This year I’ve done a little something different and pulled my planner out of the binder and had it spiral bound at Staples. It has worked wonderfully and I love it this way!!

December 2017 Personal Planner Pages

You can download the December 2017 Personal Planner Pages by clicking the green download button below. There are 14 pages included as a part of the download: the month at a glance and then weekly planning pages as well, with a page that finishes up the month of November as well as a bit into January. Each month I’ll be offering a free download for that month’s planning pages, so you can check back and download them as they become available.

Download button

 

Purchase the Yearly Planner

Otherwise, if you like the layout and want to start planning out the rest of your year now (and 2018 as well), purchase the full Yearly Planner for $4.99. The calendar includes month-at-a-glance pages and dated weekly pages through December 2018. There is also a link to bonus pages and additional covers for the planner. 

Don’t miss my student planner and weekly homeschool planner – available as well!

Don’t Miss The Daily To-Do List

Daily to do list free printable

 
My Daily To-Do List is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise and water intake. Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper.

Hope you all have a wonderful month!! I’d love to hear your plans!

 

November 2017 Planner for Mom – Free Printable

Can you believe that we are in the final stretch of 2017? Someone mentioned how many days there are until Christmas and I had to look again – it’s crazy how much time we seem to have at the start of the year, and yet how quickly it seems to have gone by! 

November is shaping up to be crazy-town in our house. McKenna is in the last few weeks of preparing for her performance in Les Miserables and she begins full performances on November 12th (her 15th birthday). We have family coming in from out of town to see the musical and then another visit from more family the week of Thanksgiving. 

Kaleb also has his First Lego League competition and life continues on in every other area – but it will be fun! I’m really hoping to get some meals made ahead of time too, especially as we head into performance week, otherwise we are going to be feeling the crazy! 

For the blog I’m working on a few printables: a few preschool printables and finishing an update on the Yearly Planner, as well as a daily “to-do” list (simplified). 

If you’d like to get organized along with me, you can download the November 2017 Personal Planner Pages and try them out this month. I truly hope they are a help to you in the upcoming days.  

A Peek Inside My Planner

If you’d like to take a look at how I’ve set up my yearly planner, I’ve explained it more in this post here, as well as given links to my favorite binder and colorful tabs (because pretty makes life fun too, right?).

Yearly Planner example from Homeschool Creations-5

This year I’ve done a little something different and pulled my planner out of the binder and had it spiral bound at Staples. It has worked wonderfully and I love it this way!!

November 2017 Personal Planner Pages

You can download the November 2017 Personal Planner Pages by clicking the green download button below. There are 12 pages included as a part of the download: the month at a glance and then weekly planning pages as well, with a page that finishes up the month of October as well. Each month I’ll be offering a free download for that month’s planning pages, so you can check back and download them as they become available.

Download button

 

Purchase the Yearly Planner

Otherwise, if you like the layout and want to start planning out the rest of your year now (and 2018 as well), purchase the full Yearly Planner for $4.99. The calendar includes month-at-a-glance pages and dated weekly pages through December 2018. There is also a link to bonus pages and additional covers for the planner. 

Don’t miss my student planner and weekly homeschool planner – available as well!

Don’t Miss The Daily To-Do List

Daily to do list free printable

 
My Daily To-Do List is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise and water intake. Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper.

Hope you all have a wonderful month!! I’d love to hear your plans!

 

Homemade Ice Cream Cake Recipe

When we were kids, having ice cream cake for our birthdays was a HUGE deal. Our parents worked hard and splurging for something like that was something that didn’t happen often.

To this day though, it’s one of my favorite things to have on my birthday. I’m not a huge frosting girl, so the mix of Oreos and ice cream is the perfect balance for me! Now each of our kids ask for an ice cream cake for their birthday, but it’s something we make at home and L.O.V.E. – especially since we can pick out the flavors of ice cream we want to mix and tailor it to our likes! This recipe is one we have been making for years and years – and this silicone springform pan (affiliate link) is my favorite. You know you are serious about your ice cream cake when you have a dedicated pan for making them!

Unlike some of the store bought cakes (or restaurant made), the cake is solid ice cream, and doesn’t seem like glorified air. The middle with the Oreos – oh so amazing. One time I added a thin layer of whipped topping to the outside, but we decided we liked our cake straight up ice cream with nothing to mess it up. 

We’re in birthday mode in our house at the moment. Over the next few weeks we are celebrating three birthdays, and the kids are putting in their orders for cake flavors. Because we love them (the kids and the cakes) so much, we thought you all might enjoy the recipe. Caution: there is a lot of sugar, but on birthdays anything goes – at least in our house. :) 

Ice Cream Cake
Serves 12
This homemade ice cream cake will have you
Write a review
Print
Prep Time
30 hr
Cook Time
3 hr
Total Time
4 hr
Prep Time
30 hr
Cook Time
3 hr
Total Time
4 hr
For the filling
  1. 1 sleeve of oreo cookies (your flavor choice)
  2. 1 jar of Magic Shell (your flavor choice)
  3. 1/2 cup hot fudge sauce
For the cake
  1. 2 half gallons of ice cream (choose two complimentary flavors)
Instructions
  1. Soften the ice cream by letting it sit out on the counter.
  2. While ice cream is softening, crush the sleeve of oreos and add to a mixing bowl.
  3. Shake up the jar of Magic Shell well and pour over the crushed oreos. Use a spatula to mix the two together.
  4. Spread 2/3 of one flavor of ice cream into the bottom of a springform pan.
  5. Gently spread the Oreo mix on top of the bottom layer of ice cream, leaving a 1/2" border (so it doesn't go all the way to the edge of the pan).
  6. Lightly warm hot fudge sauce in microwave and carefully spread over Oreos.
  7. Top with full container of your second ice cream flavor choice.
  8. Freeze for several hours until hard. Remove springform sides and carefully cut (the center can be hard to get through if frozen solid, so watch yourself!).
Flavor combos
  1. We have had fun creating different flavors over the years, including some lighter tasting ones using a vanilla Magic Shell mixed with vanilla Oreos, strawberry jam, a lemon ice cream and strawberry ice cream combo. Here are a few other combos we love...
  2. Chocolate/coffee
  3. Chocolate/cookies and cream
  4. Chocolate/mint chip or mint oreo
  5. Chocolate/moose tracks or peanut butter cup (and peanut butter Magic Shell!)
  6. Chocolate/coconut
  7. Vanilla/coffee
  8. Vanilla/cookie dough
Homeschool Creations https://www.homeschoolcreations.net/
Hope you all enjoy this recipe! 

October 2017 Personal Planning Pages (FREE Printable)

Happy fall!! October is one of my favorite months because the temperatures begin cooling way down during the days and nights and it’s perfect camping weather. Add in the changing leaves and evening walks and it just feels like I can b-r-e-a-t-h-e. 

This October we don’t have a lot on the calendar other than one camping trip and a memorial service for my uncle. We’re hoping to squeeze in a few day trips with the kids when Laurianna’s community college has their fall break. My hubby still has a few vacation days that he needs to use, so we thought that would be great to take advantage of. 

One thing I really need to focus on this month: meal planning and planning ahead! I’ve been more “flying by the seat of my pants” even though I have a good stock of pantry and fresh food. There hasn’t been a specific meal plan in place and that’s something I’m really feeling behind on. Having something in place helps me out so much, so it’s back to using our weekly meal planner

For the blog I’m working on a few printables: more science to go along with Kaleb’s studies, a few fun ones that will tie in with a book series we are reading, and a few others I’m hoping to squeeze in along with updating my yearly personal planner with dates through June 2019. 

If you’d like to get organized along with me, you can download the October 2017 Personal Planner Pages and try them out this month. I truly hope they are a help to you in the upcoming days.  

A Peek Inside My Planner

If you’d like to take a look at how I’ve set up my yearly planner, I’ve explained it more in this post here, as well as given links to my favorite binder and colorful tabs (because pretty makes life fun too, right?).

Yearly Planner example from Homeschool Creations-5

This year I’ve done a little something different and pulled my planner out of the binder and had it spiral bound at Staples. It has worked wonderfully and I love it this way!!

October 2017 Personal Planner Pages

You can download the October 2017 Personal Planner Pages by clicking the green download button below. There are 12 pages included as a part of the download: the month at a glance and then weekly planning pages as well, with a page that finishes up the month of November as well. Each month I’ll be offering a free download for that month’s planning pages, so you can check back and download them as they become available.

Download button

 

Purchase the Yearly Planner

Otherwise, if you like the layout and want to start planning out the rest of your year now (and 2018 as well), purchase the full Yearly Planner for $4.99. The calendar includes month-at-a-glance pages and dated weekly pages through December 2018. There is also a link to bonus pages and additional covers for the planner. 

Don’t miss my student planner and weekly homeschool planner – available as well!

Don’t Miss The Daily To-Do List

Daily to do list free printable

 
My Daily To-Do List is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise and water intake. Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper.

Hope you all have a wonderful month!! I’d love to hear your plans!

 

*NEW* Weekly Homeschool Planner

For the past three years I have been working on something behind the scenes, but never got around to actually DOING anything about it – as in sharing it with you. If I’m being honest there are a lot of things I’ve started and never completely finished. The main reason is perfectionism. 

It’s something I’ve struggled with for a very long time. While it may seem like I procrastinate on projects (which I do, in a way), the honest truth is – if it isn’t matching up to what I picture in my head, something inside me shuts down and doesn’t keep going. My brain has a million ideas, and there isn’t enough time. I can’t get it put together the way I envision, so it gets pushed aside. 

The last few years have been a process of me working toward getting over that hump, one baby step at a time. I’m definitely not all the way there yet, but maybe you can relate? 

One of the things I’ve been working on is a paper and pen version of my homeschool planner. I’ve been using it the past few years and love it – it’s simple but pretty. Efficient. While I love my other planner, staying off my laptop during school time has been important to me. This planner makes me smile (and that’s a great thing) and keeps my focus on the four people in front of me, rather than off on a rabbit trail. For my brain too, putting pen to paper really helps me connect the dots and remember things.

Because I love it so much, I really want to share it with you all – and I truly appreciate your patience in waiting with me.  I’m still tweaking a few things, but the best part is, I can share those tweaks via a bonus download page available only to those who purchase the planner! 

A Peek Inside the Weekly Homeschool Planner 

A few things to know about this planner: 

  • 8.5” x 11” undated pages – over 150 pages to use year after year (just like our Student Planners)
  • Colorful – not overly crazy, but subtle. Pretty makes planning fun!
  • Plenty of room for both weekly planning and a month-at-a-glance overview.
  • 10 subject areas with lined planning space
  • Planning pages include a month-at-a-glance, a weekly layout, homeschool vision, homeschool requirements, curriculum planning, daily schedules, and more.
  • Bonus download page (password protected) where you can find additional pages to add to your planner: curriculum wish list, field trip planning, goals for children, names/addresses, notes, unit planning, yearly attendance, and (coming soon) editable monthly and weekly pages.
  • 2 layouts: one labeled Monday-Friday and another with no days of the week so you can write in your own schedule 

A quick note: Our printer will print BORDERLESS. It is one of the paper choices in our printer settings. Our front and back covers were printed onto cardstock and then laminated for extra durability. We use a heavy weight paper (24 lb.) to print the planner and make the pages a little thicker.

Purchase Your Copy of the Planner 

If you would like to purchase a copy of the new Weekly Homeschool Planner, you can do so by clicking the link below

This planner is undated so you have the option of printing off a new copy each year. The pdf planner is available for $10 and you are more than welcome to print off copies for yourself – this year and in years to come. Please note the Weekly Homeschool Planner is only available as a pdf download and prints off double-sided. 

Your purchase also allows access to a ‘buyers only’ page where optional pages will be added including additional dated covers and other pages as readers/users request.

I truly hope this planner is a blessing to you all!

 

 

Daily To Do List – Daily Docket Printable

I’m a list girl – I’ll admit it. While I try to keep things in my brain and remember them, inevitably I forget them if they aren’t written down on a piece of paper somewhere.

Daily to do list free printable



And I also like pretty. And practical. I’ve had a list that I’ve used over the years, but when I created my yearly personal planner – well, I wanted it to match the colors of my new planner. (It’s the little things, people…) Keeping it all to myself seems unfair, because I happen to know a lot of people that like making lists as well and also enjoy cute.

There are days that I’m rather over-ambitious, so I have plenty of room on my list to add things throughout the day. I have also been known to put something on my list that wasn’t there to begin with and then crossing it off (ahem). Some days we just need to feel like we accomplished something and every little bit helps!

Daily to do list daily docket

The to do list is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise (oh – I crack myself up!) and water intake.

Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper. (Note: if you are having trouble downloading the file or printing it off, leave a comment or email me and I can send it to you).

I print mine off front/back so I can flip it over when I’m done and quickly transfer things from one list to another – because there are always things that don’t get done.  Just wanted to pass along something that is working for me!

Curious – are you a paper and pen girl (or guy)? Or do you have a favorite tool for keeping track of things you need to do?

If you’d like to use my older to-do list, feel free to grab that here.

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* clip art from lovelytocu via Etsy