The only way to start a week...

I know it's not Saturday, but I like the idea of Lara's Smart Habit Saturday, I just have an awful time of getting a post done on Saturday. I'm going to add it to my Sunday night post that helps me organize my week.

I feel like a habit creating failure. I've managed to set ONE habit and it's pretty silly in the grandness of life.

Habit 7 - Wear earrings daily - HABIT!

I am not abandoning my desired habits, I'm just regrouping and starting over. Here's what I'm working on this week...

Habit 3 - Lights out by 10 pm nightly.

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily.

Here's what we're eating this week...

Monday
Leftover Chicken and Stuffing - Salad

Tuesday
Enchiladas (freezer) - Salad

Wednesday
4WD Club Meeting - eat at meeting
Grom has cKc - PB&J

Thursday
Ham and Cheese Strata (freezer) - Salad

Friday
Fish and a Movie Night

Saturday
Date Night with Surferman (Eat out!)

Sunday
Lunch = Leadership Meeting at church - Making 3 kinds of Chili - Cornbread - Salad
Dinner with my folks

My Commitment to Loveliness wasn't much of a commitment last week.

I'm back with the same tasks this week.
1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.
8. Pack Surferman's lunch 3 times this week - add love notes.
9. Organize Gigi's bathroom drawers.

As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to go do something off this list. Must... stop... the... procrastination.

101 Things to Do
Still working on #3 - Memorize Psalm 8.

Oh Lord, our Lord. How excellent is your name in all the earth...

I hope to have more next week.

Have a great week!

Organized Refrigerator

Here's the inside of our refrigerator. It's our "old" refrigerator. A new one is coming on Tuesday. I didn't think to check if my baskets are going to fit. I sure hope they do, because these baskets do a great job of segregating and congregating our condiments.

The basket on the left holds salad dressings. The middle basket is full of jam and jelly. The right basket holds our collection of mustards. YES! We have a basket full of mustards.

GeMoOrgNo - Get More Organized Now! was though up by Lara, The Lazy Organizer.

More Participants
Multi-Tasking Mommy

Come back tomorrow for more organization photos.

Organized Tea

Gigi is a famous tea drinker. Our family believes one of her secrets to living a long life (She turned 90 this year) is all of the tea she drinks. Earl Grey is her favorite. But she's heard the virtue of green teas and gives them a try. I try to keep her stocked with a great variety. Everything she needs to make herself a cup of tea is gathered together in this container. All she has to do is add hot water and that comes from a hot water tap.

GeMoOrgNo - Get More Organized Now! is the lovely idea of Lara, The Lazy Organizer.

More Participants
Multi-Tasking Mommy
With An Angel On My Shoulder

Come back Sunday for more organization.

Organized Supplements

Calcium for strong bones.
Fish Oil for heart health.
Iron for cranky, crabby, tired Robin.

Surferman and I take a bunch of supplements. I can explain why we take most of them and we do feel a lot better when we are consistent in taking them. Going through all the bottles every night was a pain. And our supplements needed their own suitcase when we travel.

Enter my solution...
I found a parts box at the hardware store. I put a sticker in the lid of the box to label each compartment. I also make notes about how many each one of us should take. I refill each section when needed. I also save the silica packs and intersperse them among the compartments to keep things dry.

When we travel, the box fits perfectly inside a gallon sized ziplock bag and we're on the road again.

GeMoOrgNo - Get More Organized Now! is the brain child of Lara, The Lazy Organizer.

More Participants
Multi-Tasking Mommy

Come back tomorrow for more organization.

Organized Kitchen Drawer

I bought these drawers organizers. They are great for all the compartments. It's a bummer that they don't fit just right, but they work. They work even better when the compartments are labelled so the kitchen tools make it back to their proper homes.

GeMoOrgNo - Get More Organized Now! is the brain child of Lara, The Lazy Organizer.

More Participants
Multi-Tasking Mommy

Come back tomorrow for more organization.

GeMoOrgNo

GeMoOrgNo - Get More Organized Now is the brilliant idea of Lara Gallagher, The Lazy Organizer. Along the lines of ...

• NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month
• NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month
• NoBloShoMo - November Blog Shoe Month (Can you believe that! People are going to post pictures of the shoes they wear every day)

The challenge of GeMoOrgNo is to post a photo of something organized everyday.

#31 on my list of 101 Things to Do is was NaNoWriMo. Who am I kidding? I don't have time to write a novel. But GeMoOrgNo... now that's something I can do.

I'm in.

How did I miss Monday?

I've been floundering for the past few days without a plan. Here's what we've eaten the past few days and what the rest of the week looks like.

Monday - Ham and Cheese Risotto - Spinach Salad (with cranberries, feta cheese and pecans)

Tuesday - Easy Ravioli Bake - Broccoli - Green Salad

Wednesday - BBQ Chicken Chili - Cornbread

Thursday - Crockpot Chicken with Stuffing - Green Beans

Friday - Fish and a Movie Night

Saturday - Surferman's Pizza Night

My Commitment to Loveliness wasn't much of a commitment last week.

I'm back with the same tasks this week.
1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.
8. Pack Surferman's lunch 3 times this week - add love notes.
9. Organize Gigi's bathroom drawers.


And then there's my 101 list... I've noticed a few others making their lists - Javamama and Sarah. Do you have a list too? I'm down to 814 days. I should get to checking some things off.

Here's one I'll work on this week - 3. Memorize Psalm 8

Any interest in posting weekly about our adventures with our lists? We can root each other on.

Works for Me Wednesday - Storing Comforters

We love down comforters. They are the greatest. We can turn the heat way down in the winter and still stay toasty warm. My favorite comforters come from The Company Store. (I should've posted this tip back in August because that is when they have their annual comforter sale). Sorry.

During the winter, Surferman and I each have our own comforters and then we put one of my quilts on top to seal out the cold air. Separate quilts remove the problem of air gaps created by strong broad shoulders (Surferman's, not mine).

We have gathered quite a collection of comforters in different sizes and weights - twin, twin x long, queen, warm, warmer, warmest. Storage was a problem. They were always a mess and Surferman was always pulling out the wrong comforter.

Here's the tip. Roll the comforter like a sleeping bag and then tie it together with a piece of riboon. On the tail of the ribbon, write the size and weight of the comforter. Voila! Organized.

Have a great week! Get more tips at Shannon's.

Easy M&M Costume and How To Use Halloween to Spread the Gospel

I know that there a hundred different ways to celebrate, ignore, deal with Halloween as a Christian. Here's what we're doing / have done this year.

For the past few years we have attended a Harvest Costume Party with some other families from church. It's always great fun. Surferman gets into it and loves to wear a costume with Grom. This year we were M&M's. It was an easy costume, comfortable and well received.

Here are our shirts. I found a font that looked the M&M's "m" and expanded it to full size for Surferman and mine's shirts. For Grom, I made the m fill half a page. I printed them out and then cut them out of adhesive backed felt. The felt was less than $1.50/ sheet. We used shirts that we already had. The adhesive on the felt held well and the m can be pulled off when costume season is over.

We have Calvary Kids Club on Wednesday night. Grom is supposed to dress up as a Bible character. I'm going to make him a coat of many colors and he'll be Joseph.

At home we'll be passing out these to any kids who stop by. It's a poem with the Gospel. Redeem the day. Don't let Satan blow out your light - even for just a day.

Marvelous Monday

I have a couple of things that I post on Mondays so I thought I'd combine them together.

First the menu...

Monday - Zucchini Soup - Croutons - Salad (Chicken Nuggets for Grom)

Tuesday - Bread Soup (we will eat it this week!) - Salad

Wednesday - cKc and Bible Study - BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - Cucumber Salad

Thursday - Chicken Olive Soup (I'm making this one up as I go - using up leftovers) - Spinach Salad

Friday - Fish and a Movie Night if we're alone.
Chicken Tacos if guests come.

Saturday - Harvest Party - Macaroni and Cheese
Surferman will make pizza that night.

Sunday - My folks are cooking "Sunday Family Dinner"

A Commitment to Loveliness is about increasing feminity and beauty in our lives. I think of it as a way to make my life more pleasant and prettier. My number is from when I started a few weeks ago.

1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.
8. Pack Surferman's lunch 3 times this week - add love notes.
9. Organize Gigi's bathroom drawers.

I guess I need to introduce Gigi. Gigi is my 90 year old grandmother. She is a piece of bread if I'm of the Sandwich Generation. I feel blessed (usually) to be able to be her girl.

Corduroy

It's time to regroup and recommit to BFIAR. Our book this week is Corduroy. In addition to the ideas in the curriculum, I found these ideas.

Corduroy Craft

Teddy Bear Coloring Page

Counting with Gummy Bears - who doesn't like gummy bears?

Color Bear Concentration Game

Of course we also read A Pocket for Corduroy and Dandelion both also by Don Freeman. All three of the books had readalongs available at the library. Grom loves listening to his books in the car (uh, I mean airplane - but that's another post).

Another nice book from the library was The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid.

Hopsital

We have a large leather recliner that has become Dr. Grom's hopsital bed. (That's not a spelling error. It's the too cute way that Grom says hospital).

Lately he plays hopsital anytime he can find a willing patient.

Here are some things you need to know about being a willing patient...
1) You must moan and groan and act really sick.
2) Ask Dr Grom if he can help you.
3) Be willing to be reclined so far in a recliner that you feel like you'll slip off head first.
4) Quickly come up with a physical ailment that can be quickly cured with lots of shots.
5) Act very very brave when after your physical examination, Dr Grom pronounces you need shots to be cured. Bonus points for whimpering.
6) Suggest diagnostic procedures that Dr. Grom might have missed - don't let him forget to take you blood pressure.
7) Don't flinch when the "doctor" tools get combined with the "construction" tools and Dr Grom decides he has to saw off you foot because you need a transplant.
8) Make a speedy recovery when Dr Grom takes your temperature and it reads a happy face.
9) Ask how much you owe him just to hear him say, "It's free! I'm a humanitarian Doctor"

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Bear Hunt Blog Post - some fun links

Bear Hunt Pattern - clip art pictures to make a lap book

Bear Hunt Video by the author - Grom and I watched this video today. He wanted to watch it 3 times and then declared that the author was too loud. The volume of the computer wasn't very loud, so I think he was referring to his expression which was exaggerated.

Photo Family Tree - I wish we had done this, but it just didn't happen. Maybe next time?

BFIAR has been really hard for me the past few weeks. I can get the go-along books and videos from the library, and make plans for activities, crafts, etc. but if I don't make a plan for each day of the week it's easy for nothing to happen.

I'm glad this is preschool. We both have a lot of learning to do.

edited to add...
Books and Music a Magical Mix - active activities for Bear Hunt as well as recipes for mud.

What's for Dinner - Week of October 15th

It's all about leftovers and cleaning out the freezer and pantry this week.

Monday - Leftovers : tri tip - chicken - beans - macaroni salad - garlic bread - fruit salad

Tuesday - Leftovers : bbq chicken sandwiches - salad

Wednesday - cKc : sausage and zucchini sandwiches - salad

Thursday - Tomato and Bread Soup (didn't get made last week) - spinach salad

Friday - fish and a movie night : salmon patties - rice - zucchini

Saturday - Surferman's Pizza - salad

Sunday - I'll figure it out when it gets closer

Loveliness #2

I enjoyed working on my commitment to loveliness last week. I didn't get everything I wanted to do done, but it was great to have the motivation of trying.

1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
6. Visit a friend who just placed her mother with Alzheimer's Disease.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.

Check out more commitments at Charming the Birds from the Trees.

Works for Me Wednesday - Soothing Red Bums.

I have an announcment. One that Grom will probably hate me for when he's ever old enough to read Mommy's blog.

Grom officially has POTTY POWER!
No more diapers for us!

So in celebration I offer a product review that got us through those seemingly unending diaper days.

Burt's Bees Diaper Ointment.
It smells great.
It works fast.
It cleans up easy.
Ok for cloth diapers (at least I didn't have any problems).
One tube lasts a really long time.

No diapered bottom should be without it.

We Can Both Be Winners!

Crystal at Biblical Woman has been given 10 copies of Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God.

I've heard good things about this book. And given the choice of being describes as passionate or desperate. Who wouldn't choose passionate? Go now.

Smart Habit Saturday

So it's not Saturday... I should get points (whatever they're good for) for picking myself up and getting back to them.

I was a lot of talk and not much action last week. Please pray for me. I want to be disciplined and diligent, but I get distracted so easy.

Habit 7 - Wear earrings daily - HABIT!

Habit 6 - Lotion feet nightly - My feet are so calloused and dry that I probably don't need shoes.

Habit 5 - Write down all food eaten and post on the refrigerator. Evaluate food list for healthier choices in the future and ways to avoid problem eating.- Umm... yeah, this needs work.

Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study. - I've been better this week. I'm making it up early about 5 out of 7 days. I have 36 days to catch up with my Daily Bible Reading Plan for the year.

Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly. - See habit #4

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Back to baby stepping - goal is 2 qts this week.

Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. I'm amazed at how fast this habit feel off. And my skin shows it.

My plan for this week is to regroup and work on these habits FOR REAL. If you want to be inspired by the great job gals are doing with their habits, go check Smart Habit Saturdays hosted by Lara the Lazy Organizer.

What's for Dinner - Week of October 8th

It looks like we are getting rid of the freezer and the fridge in our utility room and replacing it with one fridge/freezer combination. I'm going to be losing some storage, but I store too much food. This will be a good thing. For now, I'm working on eating up our stockpile.

Here's what we're eating for dinner this week...

Monday - Tomato and Bread Soup - Spinach Salad

Tuesday - From the Freezer Leftover Soup (Turkey Taco Meat, Mexican Rice, Bean Broth, Pork Broth, and ???) - Green Salad

Wednesday - cKc and Bible Study - Turkey Cheddar Panini - Tomato Soup

Thursday - Farmer's Market. We skipped it last week.

Friday - Fish and a Movie Night - last week we bought salmon patties from Trader Joe's. They were delicious.

Saturday - Surferman, Grom and I are serving at my parents 10th annual golf tournament. We'll work for food.

Sunday - Dinner with my folks

Check out the other menu planners at Organizing Junkie

Loveliness

I've been following Emma's Commitment to Loveliness for a couple of weeks and have decided to give it a whirl this week.

From Emma... This is a fun way to increase femininity and beauty in our lives each week without even trying! All you have to do is choose five things that you would like to work on or do during the week that will increase the loveliness in your life!

Here's my list for this week...

1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
2. Re pot African Violets.
3. Pair up socks from the loose sock bins.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
   
5. Clear out and off cabinet in bedroom.

Check out more commitments at Charming the Birds from the Trees.

(Need something to) Work for Me Wednesday - Earrings

One of my Smart Habits has been to wear earrings daily. I've been doing a good job and have even purchased a few new pairs.

But they are a mess of tangled stuff in a little box.

My organized mind can't handle it.

Help!

I don't really want them on display but I'd like to be able to see them all and get to them easily.

How do you keep your earrings organized? Do you have a great jewelry box that you recommend? Or something you've recycled? Let's hear some ideas...

What's for Dinner - Week of October 1st

I haven't posted on Menu Plan Monday for quite a while. And our budget shows it.

New month. New budget. Here's what were eating this week.

Monday - Pasta with Meat Sauce - Zucchini - Watermelon

Tuesday - Crockpot Vegetarian Chili - Cornbread - Salad

Wednesday - 4WD Club Meeting (Surferman will eat at the Pizza Parlor)
cKc (Grom and I will grab something easy)

Thursday - Farmer's Market (Eat out - BBQ something)

Friday - Fish and a Movie Night - Baked Potatoes - Salad

Saturday - Surferman's Pizza Night - Green Salad

Sunday - Dinner with my folks

Check out all the participants of Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie's Blog

Smart Habit Saturday

I'm back!

Don't know where I went, but my habits really took a hit from my absence. I guess the accountability of posting is worth more than I thought.

So here's what I was working on and here's how it looks today.

Habit 7 - Wear earrings daily - HABIT! I bought some new earrings. And lost one yesterday (bummer).

Habit 6 - Lotion feet nightly - My feet are so calloused and dry that I probably don't need shoes.

Habit 5 - Write down all food eaten and post on the refrigerator. Evaluate food list for healthier choices in the future and ways to avoid problem eating.- Umm... yeah, this needs work.

Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study. - I've been better this week. I'm amking it up early about 5 out of 7 days. I have 36 days to catch up with my Daily Bible Reading Plan for the year.

Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly. - See habit #4

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Back to baby stepping - goal is 2 qts this week.

Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. I'm amazed at how fast this habit feel off. And my skin shows it.

My plan for this week is to regroup and work on these habits and start adding new ones next week. If you want to be inspired by the great job gals are doing with their habits, go check Smart Habit Saturdays hosted by Lara the Lazy Organizer.

What do you do...

when your boy decides his Momo needs a bath right before bedtime?


Put him in a protective habitat and let them go to sleep.

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here and our Before Five In A Row adventure was one of the things that was put on the back burner. We continued reading our stories and have been talking about some of the points of the curriculum. The more hands on projects will be finished up this week.

In addition to the curriculum this is what we did...

Weather Bear Paper Doll - I printed additional "warm weather" outfits and we colored them for additional outfits for Jesse Bear.

I found Jamberry by Bruce Degen and used it as a go-along for Blueberries for Sal. Grom loves that book (I'm on the lookout for our own copy) and we've worn out the story tape listening to it in the car. Grom realized that Jesse Bear and Jamberry are drawn by the same illustrator. He loves the name Bruce Degen and giggles everytime we bring up his name. Very fun and a great memory.



We have a couple of more "bear" books coming in the next couple of weeks, so I'm sure we'll be pulling in more bear activities then.

Yellow Ball / My Blue Boat

I combined these books because I was under the mistaken idea that I had fallen behind. I've come to realize that I can't be behind...

1. I set the schedule
2. Grom is just 3 years old
3. This is supposed to be fun and if fun takes longer than a week - so be it

From the outset I need to confess that these books didn't do a whole lot for me. Maybe I've been spoiled with Goodnight Moon and Blueberries for Sal.

We followed some of the curriculum ideas for both of the books.

Here is some extra stuff I added...
The Yellow Ball - About the Story (mollybang.com) - more interesting for me than Grom
Sailboat Coloring Page
Another Sail Boat Coloring Page

Books we enjoyed that tied to these books...

• Scuffy the Tugboat - video (there are multiple stories on this tape - one of the stories has Scuffy dreaming about going to the sea and then going)
• Tub toys by Terry Miller Shannon & Timothy Warner ; illustrations by Lee Calderon
• Goose by Molly Bang
• Captain Bob sets sail by Roni Schotter ; illustrated by Joe Cepeda.
• The red ball by Joanna Yardley - Grom immediately started finding the red ball on each page
  
• Jesse Bear's tra-la tub by Nancy White Carlstrom ; illustrated by Bruce Degen
• Bathtime piggywiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox - this is a cute book with fold out pages - including a page about SURFING!

We had a great time making boats out of aluminum foil with paper sails. We sailed them in our jacuzzi. I was surprised at how I could blow the boats around the pool.

Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal at Wikipedia

We did many of the activities from the Before Five In A Row Curriculum. We ate A LOT of blueberries.

From the library...
Blueberries for Sal - read-a-long book
Baby Bears (video)
A day in the life of a baby bear by Peter and Susan Barrett.
Jamberry by Bruce Degen.
Jamberry - read-a-long book
Scolastic's Make way for ducklings--and more Robert McCloskey stories (video) - includes Blueberries for Sal
One Day in Maine by Robert McCloskey - Grom realized it was the same Sal quickly but this longer book lost his attention.

We did this project. I drew a simple bush. It wasn't a blueberry bush until Grom added the blueberries. We colored his fingertip and he stamped the blueberries on the bushes.
Grom made a similar picture using blue dots for the blueberries. He loves sticking stickers.

Works for Me Wednesday - Laundry Prayer

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV

I found an easy way to put part of the command of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 into (unfortunately) daily practice.

I wrote things I want to pray for on my clothes pins / laundry pegs / whatever you call them.

I list family members, character traits for myself, Surferman and Grom, even President Bush has his own clothes pin.

It adds to my laundry experience. I never know who or what I'm going to pull out of the pocket of my apron. I add to them when I think of it.


Works for me!

For more tips from Bloggityville - head over to Shannon's.

What's for Dinner - Week of August 20th

Here's my menu plan for the week. For more menu plans go see all the participants of Organizing Junkie's Carnival.

Monday - Ravioli Bake - Salad - Garlic Bread

Tuesday - Surferman and my Grandmother are prepping for their colonoscopies (that's another blog post I guess). We're having clear liquids to commiserate with them.

Wednesday - Ham Bone and Bean Soup - Salad - Biscuits

Thursday - Pork and Veggie Stirfry - Rice - Fruit

Friday - Steak and a Movie Night

Saturday - John and Janelle's Wedding!

Sunday - Dinner with my folks.

Smart Habit Saturday

Not adding any new habits this week. I'm still struggling with going to bed and getting up for time with God.

Habit 7 - Wear earrings daily - HABIT! I need some new earrings.

Habit 6 - Lotion feet nightly - doing well, my feet are still really beat up from flip flops though

Habit 5 - Write down all food eaten. Evaluate food list for healthier choices in the future and ways to avoid problem eating. - not so good this last week - a focus habit this week.

Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study. - I stink at this habit. I'm being rebellious and would appreciate your prayers.

Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly. - See habit #4

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Back to baby stepping - goal is 2 qts this week.

Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. HABIT!

Check out what habits the other SMART gals are working on at Lara's - the Lazy Organizer.

I WON! (ok tied)

I entered my Momo cupcakes for the Summer Cupcake Caper and I won! Well I really tied in the category - "Most Likely to be Enjoyed by Children"

I am STOKED!

What's for Dinner - Week of August 13th

Welcome to the first normal week around here since the beginning of July. I'm looking forward to normal.

Here's what we're eating this week.

Monday - Leftover Veggie Spaghetti (actually Macaroni) - Spinach Salad - Fruit

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Breast - Brocolli - Salad

Wednesday - ARsh Msick (EAT OUT!)

Thursday - Chicken Caesar Salad - Fruit

Friday - Fish and a Movie Night (we're trying to eat healthier and we've already had red meat this week) - Zucchini - Fruit

Saturday - CORD or punt.

Sunday - Dinner with my folks

Check out all the participants of Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie's Blog

Smart Habit Saturday

I would have never guessed that my last SHS post was on July 21st. Where did the time go? Check out Lara, The Lazy Organizer for more Smart Habits Saturday.

I've continued with my habits and have added a couple more.

Habit 7 - Wear earrings daily - doing well with this, I have found I have lots of earrings that I really like.

Habit 6 - Lotion feet nightly - doing well, my feet are still really beat up from flip flops though

Habit 5 - Write down all food eaten. Evaluate food list for healthier choices in the future and ways to avoid problem eating. - about 50%, I need to be better about writing things down as I eat them and not waiting until the end of the day when my memory gets fuzzy.

Habit 4 - Daily, early morning devotion time. I want to be out of bed at 5:45 am every morning for 45 minutes with my Lord for reading of the Word, prayer and book study. - I stink at this habit. I'm being rebellious and would appreciate your prayers.

Habit 3 - Lights out by 11 pm nightly. - See habit #4

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily. Back to baby stepping - goal is 2 qts this week.

Habit 1 - Wash my face every night. HABIT!

Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Pictures by Clement Hurd


Goodnight Moon - about Goodnight Moon from Wikipedia

Here are some things that I found in addition to the activities listed in the curriculum.

Goodnight Moon Counting page, Goodnight Moon online coloring activity, Goodnight Moon coloring page - Printable and online activities from the Harper Collins website.

Moon rising. - points out how the moon rises through the story and how it corresponds to the time changing on the clocks.

Hey Diddle Diddle Coloring Pages - We've had a lot of fun with this nursery rhyme. Grom colored the pages once and then we made this folder book of the rhyme using the coloring pages.

Here are some books we enjoyed that tied to Goodnight Moon.

• Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
• The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood
• Read-a-long version of Goodnight Moon - Grom loves these in the car.
• Goodnight Moon (video) - we only watched the Goodnight Moon segment (it's at the very beginning). The movie came in after we had been rowing the book for a few days. Grom was very excited to see the story come to life.
• Scholastics' Red Riding Hood--and more James Marshall fairy tale favorites (video) - this video includes the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

I stayed away from other Margaret Wise Brown books. I'm saving that for when we row The Runaway Bunny.

Preschool with Grom

Grom and I are starting Before Five in a Row. I'm very excited to see how it goes.

I have the book and have collected most of the stories we will be reading. I've been planning our activities and requesting books from our library like crazy.

We "rowed" (which I have found out means going through a particular book) Goodnight Moon first. It has been fun to see Grom's excitment. Truth be told, I think he's enjoying the focused attention from Mommy.