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2012 Goals-Crafting

 

With the aid of pinterest I have made myself a list of crafts I would like to try this year. I would like to consider myself a creative person, but over the last couple of years that creativity has taken a back burner to motherhood. Even though we will be adding a third little to the Terrell Clan, I am determined to keep up with my Goals and get back into the crafting game. There will always be something keeping me from it if I let it.

Here is my list broken down into monthly goals:

January

Crocheted Dish clothes

February

Freezer paper shirt printing

March

Produce Bag from old t-shirts

April

Grocery Bags from Recycled T-Shirts

May

Dipped Candles

June

Braided necklace from old shirts

July

Bent Spoons Wall hanging

August

Baked Marbles/Glass Stones

September

Vegetable Stamps

October

Button Bobby Pins

November

T-shirt Shag Rug

December

Paint Dipped Pinecones

Bonus

DIY Gift Bags

Do you have any craft projects you hope to tackle this year? Please share with us below! You never know when it will be just the project someone else has been looking for!

2012 Reading List Monthly Breakdown

 

I am a huge fan of Crystal over at Money Saving Mom. I’ve been following her blog since Emma was a little baby and I was trying to find ways to cut down our budget. Last year she listed her goals and books she wanted to read that year broken down by monthly goals. Since it worked so well for Crystal, I am going to try my hand at it. This is the year that I am going to get things done and not let fear stand in my way.

So here is my reading list broken down into monthly goals.

January

">Organizing for a Fresh Start

" target="_blank">Skinny B*tch (Don’t judge, I didn’t make up the title. I’ve already started this and it has great straight forward nutritional information. I can’t say that I appreciate some of the language or the way they address the reader, but I do like the way they clearly explain things. Plus I think I only paid $1 at a garage sale for it. And Yes, I did change the “I” so that it wouldn’t be the whole word. That isn’t actually the way it reads on the book.)

February

" target="_blank">Blogging for Dummies

" target="_blank">Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it

March

" target="_blank">Miserly Moms

" target="_blank">Becoming a Woman of Freedom

April

" target="_blank">The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams

May

" target="_blank">Four-Season Harvesting

" target="_blank">The Power of a Praying Parent

June

" target="_blank">Seed to Seed

" target="_blank">Calm My Anxious Heart

July

" target="_blank">How to Dry Foods

August

" target="_blank">Root Cellaring

September

" target="_blank">Quitter

October

" target="_blank">Margin

November

" target="_blank">Entreleadership

December

" target="_blank">The Money Saving Mom’s Budget

Books I’m going to read over the entire year

These are books that are more how-to’s or not chapter books.

" target="_blank">The American Red Cross First Aid and Safety Handbook

" target="_blank">Back to Basics: A complete Guide to Traditional Skills

" target="_blank">The Complete Tightwad Gazette

I’m linking this to  Money Saving mom’s My Goals for 2012

2012 Reading List

I received quite a few books for Christmas that were on my wish list so I am ready to get started devouring them. Actually, I’m already several chapters into 3 of them and I flipped through another. I want to read all the books that I got for Christmas, some books that I got through Amazon for free using the free kindle program on my computer, plus a few more that I have or still need to purchased. Also, I want to have a regular time set aside each day to read to the girls. We aren’t to the point of doing chapter books yet, but I’m able to ready longer stories and keep their attention.

I know this is a long list and for someone (meaning me) who finished two maybe three books last year it seems a little ridiculous, but I am determined to read a lot more this year and be more disciplined with my time. I am becoming far less interested in watching TV and using that time learning in one way or another or working on writing for my blog.

Books From Christmas

" target="_blank">Four-Season Harvesting

" target="_blank">Miserly Moms (I’m doing a bit of skimming in some sections of the book since a lot of this stuff I already know or is outdated.)

" target="_blank">The Complete Tightwad Gazette (there are 3 volumes total so there is a lot of info to go through. I think I will ready a little each day and spread it out over the entire year)

" target="_blank">Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables

" target="_blank">Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it-And other cooking projects (This is a recipe book that Joel and I have already flipped through. I love that she describes how each food actually tastes. There are several recipes that I want to try in the next few months)

" target="_blank">Back to Basics: A complete Guide to Traditional Skills (This one won’t be a cover to cover read, but more of a flip through and see what all is included and what we could learn sooner than later. Really it’s a reference book.)

" target="_blank">Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners

" target="_blank">How to Dry Foods: The Complete Guide to Drying Foods at Home

" target="_blank">The American Red Cross First Aid and Safety Handbook (This will be a book I read throughout the year as well)

Books on Kindle

" target="_blank">The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams

" target="_blank">Organizing for a Fresh Start: Embracing Your Next Chapter in Life (This one is still currently free for Kindle)

" target="_blank">Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives

" target="_blank">Becoming a Woman of Freedom

" target="_blank">Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment

Other Books

" target="_blank">The Power of a Praying Parent

" target="_blank">Blogging for Dummies

">The Money Saving Mom’s Budget

">Quitter

">Entreleadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches

" target="_blank">Skinny B*tch (Don’t judge, I didn’t make up the title. I’ve already started this and it has great straight forward nutritional information. I can’t say that I appreciate some of the language or the way they address the reader, but I do like the way they clearly explain things. Plus I think I only paid $1 at a garage sale for it. And Yes, I did change the “I” so that it wouldn’t be the whole word. That isn’t actually the way it reads on the book.)

 Note-All of the book links are through my Amazon.com affiliate program. All the books were chosen by me without any outside influence.


I’m going to break down these lists of books so that I have smaller goals. I’ll post that once I have it done.

What’s on your reading list for 2012? Do you plan on adding any of these books to your list?

 

Monday Mommy Confession #26

Butter, butter, who’s got the butter? I’ll tell you who, it’s Sammie J!

Most of the time I enjoy being able to just let my girls run around and play without me hovering, especially around dinner time when I am trying to get things all put together and on the table. I thought I was doing great the other night when I had the table settings stacked on the porch table as well as any condiments we would need. I was finishing up the food in the kitchen when Emma comes in and informs me that Sammie was in the butter-Great. At the worst I thought she had poked her finger in it.

I didn’t expect this:

 

 

It took everything in me to keep from laughing! I went back into the living room and grabbed the camera to capture the moment. I snapped a couple of pictures to preserve the memory and hollered at my dad to come down and see. I warned him when he got to the bottom of the stairs to do his best NOT to laugh. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t put an almost brand new stick of butter on the table unsupervised!

I had to crop down the picture since we were attempting potty training that week and she was bottomless so you don’t quite get the full scope of everythings. Oh well, it makes a great family picture!

Do you have any funny stories or pictures you’ve recorded to embarrass, um humble, uh share with your children when they get older?

Monday Mommy Confession #25

I’m just going to say this upfront. This is a really weird confession, and when I realized I was doing this I thought maybe I was losing it Juuuust a little bit. So here it goes.

More times then I would care to admit I have stood by my bed ready to get in and looked around the bed like I was missing something.; and every time it dawns on me that I am looking for my “blanky”. First of all, no I don’t actually have a blanky. Night after night we do the blanky search for our girls and apparently it has rubbed off on my bed time as well. I’m hoping that this will pass soon, because every time it happens I just think to myself “really, again?”

So I hope this brought a smile and maybe a little chuckle for you!

Happy Monday ya’ll!

Monday Mommy Confession #24

One word-PROCRASTINATION.

Ya, that’s me. Leave it to me to put off something that takes sixty seconds. And when I say put it off, I mean, like, two months. I. am. pathentic.

It all started when my lovely daughter, dunked Woody’s head into her older sisters pee in the potty chair. Ya, the joys of motherhood. I put him up and told the girls he needed to be cleaned. He sat next the sink for two whole months.

I finally got him cleaned and the girls have been carrying him everywhere.

Everyone was happy in the end, but really, I think I can do better than two months.

Monday Mommy Confession #23

 

God is in the little things. And I mean itsy bitsy, tiny things.

But first, the confession. I am an equal chewer. Not with everything, but with a lot of things. What is an equal chewer you ask? Well, it someone who “needs” to chew equally on both sides of the mouth. Or have equal numbers of an item on either side of the mouth like raisins or peanuts. If there is only three left some will only eat two and throw the third away, while others, like me, will bit the third in half and divide it between the two sides.

Some call this Obsessive compulsive; I think it just means I like things symmetrical!

And now on to the God in the little things part. Last week my brother was over for a visit. While we were sitting chatting I opened a snack sized bag of peanut M & M’s and dumped them into my hand. I immediately started grabbing the first two of the same color (did I mention I also have to eat like colors. No mixing of the colors her people!). I ate the first two and looked down at my hand to find the next two when I realized that all six of the remaining M & M’s had matches AND were sitting next to their color partner! I had not rearranged them people. They dumped out of the bag that way. I stopped the conversation dead in its tracks and exclaimed to my brother “Do you see this!” He then admitted that he had noticed earlier but wasn’t going to say anything. Each pair was a different color, four pairs in total. Seriously, it made my afternoon! I know I am ridiculous, but I am who I am so take it or leave it!

Do you have a fun obsession you are willing to admit to us? Surely I can’t be the ONLY one!

‘Making’ Christmas Special 2011

 

I’m starting a new series that hopefully I will see through. This year I am planning to make most of the girls’ gifts plus various gifts for friends and family.

I have been taking a hard look at what’s important to me and with every day that passes I am drawn less and less to things. It is more important to me that my kids are fed well, are warm, are learning to love and respect others and the what’s around them, and that they learn each day new ways that Jesus loves and impacts their lives and how to turn around and do the same. Now if I come across an item that can help me do that (for instance the 10 cup food processor that I bought myself with birthday money-yea for homemade apple sauce!) then I will ask for it or buy it with birthday money.

In the same way, if there is a particular item that I know someone would really enjoy or appreciate I am more than willing to get it for them. However, I don’t like just picking up something shiny and new for them just because. I would rather save them the hassle of returning it or finding a place for it and make them something they can use or something that I know will hold sentimental value for them.

Giving gifts is about showing someone how special they are to you and blessing them beyond expectation (don’t read $$, read thoughtfulness).

That’s enough of my ranting. Here’s a rough list of the gifts I am making my girls:

A winter scarf-I’m crocheting them

A bear bankMade from recycled Animal cracker containers

Building blocks- made from recycled cardboard egg cartons

Baby doll clothes and diapers-made from old clothes I’ve kept because I liked the fabric

If I can get all of that done in the next month and a half I will be delighted.

Wish me luck!

Here’s a couple of links to gifts I’ve made or assembled in past years.

Monday Mommy Confessions #22

Emma has the most beautiful long golden hair. I love, love, love when she is in a hospitable mood and allows me to brush it. I envy her hair, not so much the blond part, but the silky, long part. I have only taken scissors to her hair once and that was to cut a small wisp of hair off when her ear drum burst and caked into it. Otherwise I would never have considered taking scissors to her hair….until Tuesday night, or should I say Wednesday morning.

Emma came in saying she didn’t feel well so I let her crawl into bed with us. Not too long later she stirred and started gagging. I got her out of bed in time and averted that mess. She woke up several more times but they were all false alarms. Then she woke up again and I wasn’t fast enough. Fortunately we had laid a towel under her after the first time and that caught everything, but there was splatter all over Joel’s pillow case, our nice.white.brand new. First night sleeping in them sheets, grr!

During the whole episode quite a bit of “it” got in her hair. Joel carried her in the towel into the bathroom and I began the gross, disgusting, torturous task of cleaning her up. I will admit, as I was trying not to gag, I consider giving Emma her first hair cut. Instead, I went into the bedroom and took a few deep breaths to strengthen my nerves and my stomach and went in to clean her up.

That was by far the grossest thing I have ever done. It was even worse than the time she was around a year old and had thrown up in her sleep and slept in it all night. And since she had eaten carrots the night before I came into her room to a smiling little girl whose head and face were glowing orange. She was sooo happy to see me though!

So, have you ever considered extreme measures when faced with a very gross mess?

Monday Mommy Confession #21

Sometimes things don’t go the way we’d like. Potty training is one of them. Emma finally took an interest in using the potty vs. her diaper and has done quite well, though lately she has allowed herself to get distracted and wait too long. What we still have not mastered though is going #2 in the potty. We’ve done it a couple of times but with no consistency. That is not the point of this confession though, merely the premise.

Several weeks ago Emma had once again pooped in her panties. We were in the process of taking her soiled panties off when I realized that I was not going to make it up to the toilet with the contents of the panties without them ending up on the floor. I had to make a quick decision- drop it on the floor or attempt to make it to the potty seat bowl which I could then empty into the toilet. I went with option #2. I didn’t quite make to the bowl however and it ended up on the seat. I was more than a little annoyed.

I started in on cleaning up the potty chair when Emma exclaimed “Mommy, my panties!” I looked up to see what she was talking about and she was pointing to the toilet. I looked in and sure enough, there were her panties floating in the water. No it wasn’t her that put them in there, or even Samantha, no, no it was me, the mommy. In my haste to clean up the mess so Emma could use her potty chair I tossed her panties in the toilet without a second thought.

Can I get away with blaming it on pregnancy brain? I would like to think that on a normal basis, when my body isn’t trying to grow a baby, I would have my wits about me and I would have avoided such a wet mistake.

Did I mention that those panties were soaked, soaked I tell you! I can laugh at it now, but I was quite annoyed with myself that day.

So tell me, Have you had a brainless moment? Surely I’m not the only one!