July is Here!

That means it’s time for a new mission of the month post (and that this summer and year are half-way over already – time is flying!)

I’ll start by recapping June.

1. Scrapbook September-November ’08 for all books.
2. Finish making shorts for girls from holey jeans.
3. Plan and celebrate Elizabeth’s birthday.
4. Plan James’ birthday party.
5. At least one date with Billy.
6. Plan Six Flags trip.
7. Read one fiction book. (The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini)
8. Read one non-fiction book. (Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel)
9. Flat Stanley Project.
10. Plan & Do “Play-School” with kids 4 days a week. (http://tinyurl.com/3c6uant)
11. Put away all of last year’s school stuff.
12. Create a School Planner for next year.
13. Eliminate white toy cabinet.
14. Have guests over 2-3 times.

1. Review Pimsleur lessons 1-3.
2. Plan a Tuesday night.
3. Lesson Plan 5 chapters for next year.

July is going to be a bit busy so my mission list is considerably shorter.  I decided to not be so lofty with my goals.  

1. Plan children’s activities for MMAD week.
2. Plan handwriting curriculum.
3. Read one book.
4. Plan camping trip.
5. Scrapbook 2 months.
6. Reorganize activity shelf for school.
7. Get kids’ school notebooks ready.

 

Mission of Month: June 2011

I found another blogger who shares her monthly goals, just as I do, and has cute icons to go along with it.  Check out Mama Jenn to see what she is up to also. Here my accomplishments for May:I did complete a few bonus projects this month.  After the school shelf was re-organized, I turned the unsightly diaper box into a beautiful canvas tote.  My other fun project was turning an old sheet into curtains for the girls’ room.  Yea!  Now on to this month’s list.   Drum roll, please!

For June:

1. Scrapbook September-November ’08 for all books.
2. Review Pimsleur lessons 1-3.
3. Finish making shorts for girls from holey jeans.
4. Plan and celebrate Elizabeth’s birthday.
5. Plan James’ birthday party.
6. Plan a Tuesday night.
7. At least one date with Billy.
8. Plan Six Flags trip.
9. Read one fiction book.
10. Read one non-fiction book.
11. Flat Stanley Project.
12. Plan & Do “Play-School” with kids 4 days a week.
13. Put away all of last year’s school stuff.
14. Create a School Planner for next year.
15. Lesson Plan 5 chapters for next year.
16. Eliminate white toy cabinet.
17. Have guests over 2-3 times.

That is a long list!  I’d better get moving.

May? Already?

Is it really May?  I hardly met half of my April goals.  Though it wasn’t because I slacked off and was lazy.  Billy’s trip to Haiti required much more of me than I expected or planned for.   God really blessed me by allowing me to help the Haiti team by assembling the baby layettes and packing their supply bags (and making sure none were over-weight).  He also blessed me while Billy was gone.  He taught me some important lessons about parenting styles and temporary-single-parenthood, and my own selfishness.  All that said, my May Goals list looks strangely similar to April’s list.  Here we go:

May Goals:

1. Make a perpetual to-do list for the kitchen.
2. Reorganize the school bookshelf.
3. Blog six times.
4. Relocate storage tubs of baby clothes.
5. Finish scrapping August 2008.
6. Make Victoria’s birthday scrapbook with her.
7. Finish skills evaluation for Victoria.
8. Look for missing Abeka reader.
9. Assess summer clothing needs (including swim-wear).
10. Plan a trip to Illinois???
11. Get 3-4 year old class ready to hand over.
12. Have a date with Billy.
13. Complete Pimsleur Haitian Creole lesson 4.

That’s just a few of my more “practical” goals for the month.  What are you trying to get done?

April Goals

I must admit, posting my goals for each month is very self-serving.  By making my goals public it motivates me to keep working towards them so at the end of the month I can again publicly say that I met all (or most) of my goals.  I hope that posting them isn’t only self-serving though.  I really hope that when readers see these goals posts, it challenges them to make their own monthly goals.  It is amazing how much more I really can accomplish in a month if I only set out to get it done.  I hope that readers can grasp on to this as well.

Setting monthly goals is a learning process.  The first month I didn’t set nearly enough and it was super easy to complete.  Then I slacked off and stopped working as hard in the home.  Now, I make quite lengthy lists and I don’t mind having one or two goals unmet as long as I worked diligently throughout the whole month.  diligence is really my goal.  I don’t want to be idle, I want to make every moment count.

My goals for April are very driven by events already on the calendar.  Things like Victoria’s birthday party would happen be accomplished even if they weren’t on my goals list, but I list them anyway because the planning and preparations take quite a bit of time to do them well.

April Goals:

1. Stay on top of daily chores all month.
2. Victoria’s Birthday Party.
3. Preparations for Billy’s trip to Haiti.
4. Scrapbook Will and Elizabeth’s Aug ’08 pages.
5. Schedule two events.
6. Go through baby boy tubs for yard sale items.
7. Two dates with Billy.
8. Six blogs.
9. Finish Victoria’s birthday scrapbook with her.
10. Start Skills Evaluation for Victoria.
11. Finish all lesson plans for May.
12. Spend at least 20 minutes of one-on-one special time with each child, each week.
13. Pimsleur lesson 4.

This month I hope that you will set your own goals and see what you can do.  Leave a comment and let me know what you are trying to accomplish this month.

February Goals

It is a new month and time to re-evaluate last months’ goals and make new ones.  Here are last months goals again:

1. Read through the book of John. (accomplished)
2. Get the kids used to our new family schedule.   (accomplished)
3. Tame the toys monster (not accomplished – I still feel so overwhelmed and defeated by this monster).
4. Make an area that I can scrapbook in easily.  (accomplished)
5. Get through lesson 3 of Pimsleur’s Haitian Creole proficiently.  (almost – I got through lesson 2)

I feel as though I did fairly well last month.  Here are a few of my personal goals for February.

1. Blog at least one time a week (and twice on one week to make up for missing last week).
2. Prayerfully evaluate one of my evening commitments.
3. Have kids choose 5 things each to give away.
4. Finish scrapping Aug ’08 family album pages.
5. Get out at least one time with my husband and no kids.
6. Read one book start to finish.
7. Proficiently finish Pimsleur’s Haitian Creole lesson 3.
8. Make 4 nursing covers – 2 for gifts and 2 to sell.
9. Prayerfully consider how I can help the kids and I feel involved and helpful in Billy’s next trip to Haiti.

What are your goals for this month? How did you do with your January goals?

Resolutions?

Many people are talking about their New Year’s resolutions and making plans on how to achieve them.  The only New Year’s resolution I have ever kept is to never make another one again.  Even when I was young I thought it was absurd to only evaluate one’s life once a year for changes that need to be made in it.  Instead, I choose to set smaller goals for myself at certain points throughout the year.

It seems to me that with every change of season, I have renewed energy to make changes in how I do life.  At the change of each season, I make plans for what areas I need to work on improving in my life.  In addition to each seasonal evaluation, I also  set goals each month.  Some of them are personal, some are tasks, and some are for the kids.  This give me a shorter amount of time to be focused on an area that needs improvement.  The shorter time helps me stay focused on my goals.  After all, I only have 4 weeks to accomplish them instead of 52.  That doesn’t give me much room to procrastinate.

I said I don’t set New Year’s resolutions, but that is really only a half-truth.  I do at the end of each year enjoy looking back to see what I have accomplished.  My husband and I also enjoy going out sometime in January  and setting some family goals together for the next year.  So I do evaluate at the New Year, but that isn’t my focused, only once a year and then I forget about it, time of resolving to make change.

This January a few of my goals are:  1. read through the book of John.  2. Get the kids used to our new family schedule.  3. Tame the toys monster (some people have laundry monsters that visit their homes, we have a toy monster that needs to be demolished).  4. Make an area that I can scrapbook in easily, even if I only have 30 minutes free.   5.  Get through lesson 3 of Pimsleur’s Haitian Creole proficiently.

What goals are you setting for yourself right now?  What time frame have you set to accomplish them?