Goal Planning Monday ~5~

Well, It is time for Goal Planning Monday again. Week 5 already. How did you do this week on your goals? My, My it is also February 28th and tomorrow, being March 1st, I will have to post an update on how I am doing for my yearly goals, too. I tell you. Working on these weekly goals, and my success here, is helping me feel like I can reach my yearly ones!! I just need to keep my yearly goals in mind and in view when I make set my weekly goals.

Do you want to know how I did on my goals from last week
Well I'll tell you anyway!! 
I did not get to work on my e-books. Am I blue??? No way! These e-books are going to be a long term project. Some of them will be done before others but I will be working on these for a long time!!!  Also... I did well on all my other goals... so that is great!!! Who could be blue with success in 4 out of 5 goals. I exercised 5 days last week. I got to put that I exercised 6 days on my Fit Mommy Friday post but for these goals I count Monday to Sunday so I exercised Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., and Friday. Sat. I was out with my hubby and mom. I did do some walking in some stores so that was good. Most importantly I lost 4.5 lbs last week!!! WaaaHooo!!!! Skinny Moms, here I come!!!  LOL Thanks to my trip to PA with my hubby and mom and sitting in the hair salon waiting for mom's perm to set I got my reading finished! Watch for my review of Pride and Prejudice later this week. I caught up on my Bible reading also this week... I read two days worth a few days last week and I finished catching up in the car on Sat. morning on the way to PA. Now I want to keep caught up. I finished my blogging every day in Feb. challenge that a friend set up on Facebook. Today was the last day and I posted my Blast From The Past meme and linky this morning and now this post. So that makes for a great week. I hope to have as much success this coming week!

My goals for this week are:

1. Work on e-books... yeah... again. You may see this one a lot!!!
2. Exercise at least 4 days... you will see this one a lot too!!
3. Finish reading Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens by Paul David Tripp
4. Read Somewhere a Song  by Judith Pella. It is my next "personal reading for fun" fiction book.
5. Clean up and Organize my bedroom, especially my closet and in front of my closet... I can barely get to my closet... and that means my hubby can't get to it either.

Well, those are my goals for the week. What are you goals??? Do you have the guts to post your goals on your blog and link up and then let us know how you did next week??? Just kidding Sorta! Anyway. Post your goals. Link up. Do your best. If you don't have goals what do you have to reach for??? If you don't have goals the tyranny of the urgent may rule your life. Join Goal Planning Monday @ mamamanuscripts by clicking the button at the top and then have a great week.

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*Note: the links to Age of Opportunity and Somewhere a Song are affiliate links. If you click the link and buy the book from Amazon a small portion of the price you pay for the book goes to me. If I ever get any $$ from being an affiliate I will spend it on homeschool books.

Blast From The Past ~ Hospital Field Trip 1995

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to see the rules for my meme if you are a first timer or if you forget the rules. 

Please join me.

This week I am posting another field trip my children went on.

The field trip as state above was to a hospital in our area... a small hospital.

They gave the children a great field trip seeing a lot of areas in the hospital.

I am sad to say I do not see my other daughter Jessica in any of the pictures.

I don't know how that happened.

My daughter Rachel is the girl below (and in subsequent pictures) in the purple turtleneck. 

Looking at an x-ray

Checking out the x-ray machine

In the children's ward

In the kitchen the kids got these hats... they loved them.
I am not sure... but I think... the girl in the white shirt with her back to us... behind Rachel...
that may be Jessica... the size and hair color is correct.

Nathan loved his hat, too!!!

He is about 7 mos. old.

Adorable!

It was a great field trip!!

Grab my button, check out the tab above with the rules, post the button and your pictures, with or without commentary about them, on your blog, then....

Come back here

Link up your post...

then Leave me a Comment

especially if you don't post your link today

I want to be able to come and see your post.

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Spirit Filled Sunday ~ Away Fly I'll

I hope you enjoy this. It will surely bring a smile to your face whether you are seeing it for the first time or you have seen it many, many times. Enjoy!!!




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Six Word Saturday

Hair Cut Today

Lookin' Good Then

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Fit Mommy Friday - A Successful Week

I have had a great week this week as far as fitness and eating goes.

• Work out at least 4 days on the Wii Fit. I worked out 6 days last week: Feb. 19, 21, 22, 23, 23, 25. I worked out at least 30 min a day and some days 45 or 50. The intensity of the workout is slowly growing as well, and I can do more aerobic exercises in my workout. I am also feeling stronger.
• Drink at least 46 oz of water a day. Success and one day I even got to 64 oz. Yippee!!
• Eat healthy. Start tracking my food intake and not just guessing... I want to keep a food journal and not just keep the list of what I eat for a day. I want to track my eating habits. I made a food diary and started tracking my food intake and points for WW.

All the above resulted in a 4.4 lb weight loss this week. WooooHoooo! 

Goals for next week:

1. Work out at least 4 days and I want at least 2 of them to be 45 minute workouts.
2. Keep my food diary and track food and Weight Watchers points.
3. Drink at least 46 oz. of water a day. 

I am thankful to Denise for hosting Fit Mommy Friday. Join us in getting fit and link up your posts by clicking on the button at the top.

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Unexpected Conviction

Where do you find conviction in your life??
In your Bible reading?
In your pastor's sermons?
In a song?
In a spiritual book?
Maybe you find it other places, too.
But, today I found it in an unexpected place.
In the History book I was reading to my sons.

I was reading chapter 9 of The Light And The Glory - Did God have a plan for America, by Peter Marshall and David  Manuel, and suddenly I was fighting back the tears... trying to keep reading. I don't know if my boys noticed or not. But it really affected me. The passion and dedication of the Puritans to following the way God was leading them was piercing my heart.

My boys and I have been working our way through the book. Reading sections as we come to the time periods in our History study. 

I wish I could copy the whole chapter for you here. If you have not read The Light And The Glory yourself, or to your older children I would highly recommend it. I would recommend it for middle school, 7th grade or so, and up. I am so sorry to say that in my 20 years of homeschooling this is our first time through this book. I had it when we did American History years ago but did not read it to my children, or even myself. I am recommending it to my daughters to read and they promised to put it on their reading list.

The chapter is about the misrepresentation that has occurred about the Puritans and a look at their life and how they lived. It especially covers:

• the willingness to search out and confront the sin in their own lives
• their confrontation of sin in others in their midst since they were covenanted together and needed each other so much
• the mercy and forgiveness of others sin that came out knowing their own sinful nature
• how that affected their parenting (this is where I started to cry)
• how all of the above affected their helping their children choose spouses
• then, how they relied on each other (in their church/community) since they were bound together
• and lastly how the sacrifice of their leaders and the providence of God provided their desperate needs at almost the last minute.

I will quote one or two little parts here for you, but I really recommend that you read the chapter for yourself. If you don't have a copy of the book, see if your library has the book or click in the links above to go to Amazon and buy yourself a copy. This quote is from page 178

"...we are not willing to risk losing the "love" in our relationship with our children by persevering with them in matters of discipline. The biggest single cause of the breakdown of the American family is that so much of what we could call  love, the Puritans would have another name for: idolatry."

They are talking about putting the children and their feeling higher than your obedience to God. I am sorry to say I often do this. I am a wimp. I give in to my children instead of following God. It has caused many problems in our family. I pray to God for strength to do what I know he wants me to do each day... especially in homeschooling my boys.

Here is quote 2 from pg. 180:

""We do also give up ourselves one unto another in the Lord, and according to the will of God, freely covenanting and binding our selves to walk together as a right ordered congregation and church of Christ, in all ways of His worship, according to the holy rules of the Word of God, promising in brotherly love, faithfully to watch over one another's souls."

Imagine the reaction most Americans today would have at the thought that their neighbors might be watching over their souls. Even among those of us in the Body of Christ, when we say, "How are you?" and smile, we are inwardly relieved when the answer is limited to the obligatory "Fine." So many of our churches are congregations of private people, surrounded by private personal spaces ad wrapt up in private thought, until it is time to smile and shake the minister's hand and get into our private cars.

In fact, for many of us Americans, privacy has become our religion, with the home as the foremost place of worship. As a result of increasingly temporary and artificial friendships, frequent uprooting, and growing insecurity in the world, we turn more and more for fulfillment of our needs to family relationships."

They go on from there to talk about the fact that family members cannot possibly provide all the love which we are so desperate for. We can smother our family members and drive them from us instead of loving them as Christ loves us and drawing us together.

The part in the quote above that is bold is my doing... this hit me hard. What about you? Do you find many of your friendships, even at church, temporary or artificial? I know I have had that problem. I have seen the look in others eyes when they ask me how I am and I don't say fine. They sometimes make excuses to get away from me as fast as possible. Friends and I have drifted apart. I am not sure how to fix it but I want to dig into some of my "friendships" at church and show others that I care about them and want to know more than that they are just "Fine." I want to know their needs and struggles and I want to covenant together with them and pray with them right then and there and then also promise to pray for them later, and then do it. I also want to keep those requests in mind, which will mean writing them down, and I want to keep updated on them. I cannot change others but I can start by changing me!

I also have some changes to make in my approach to my own sin and then in my parenting. I also have need to ask for forgiveness from my family. I know I have a long way to go in my Christian walk. I am glad that God knows my steps and my path and keeps putting His thoughts and words in my path to keep me on the straight and narrow... even if I find them in our History books!

Oh, know too that this book was written in 1977... my how things have deteriorated even more in America, in our churches and homes since then.

Let me know in the comments what you think of this. Especially if you have, get, or buy the book and read the chapter for yourself. I know I will be chewing on this for a while and re-reading this portion of the book so I get all the good stuff out of it.


I am also going to link this to since we are reading this book aloud for History.


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*** Note:  the Amazon link above is an affiliate link... if you click the link and buy from Amazon I will get a small portion of the sale. You will not be charged more for the book, but the small portion of the sale I get will be used to buy books for our homeschooling. Thanks.

Wednesday Hodgepodge ~Feb. 23

1. Did you know there is a National Day of pretty much everything in the universe? February 23 happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day...when was the last time you were inconvenienced? Today??? Definition = "1. Incommodious; unsuitable; disadvantageous; giving trouble or uneasiness; increasing the difficulty of progress or success..." from the 1828 Dictionary LOL It increased the difficulty of the progress of my day to sit at the table all day with my boys while they did school and to finish just before dinner. It was disadvantageous to practice our singing after dinner. But now I am watching Secretariat.

2. When a room in your house needs painting who does the job? All of us! See this post here for an example.

3. Are you friends with your cousins? I am sorry to say I rarely see my extended family these days. I used to be very good friends with a number of my cousins and second cousins. I am getting back into contact with a few of them thanks to Facebook, but we have only seen each other at funerals.

4. Do you use an alarm clock? If yes-is it an actual alarm, music, or something else? No, not since my hubby got laid off last March. We are usually up around 7 or 7:30am.

5. What do you put ketchup on? fries, hamburgers, hot dogs and meatloaf.  I have, in the past, even put it on mashed potatoes... blame my brother!

6. What smells make you nostalgic? Maple syrup, turkey and stuffing, apple pie, hyacinths, roses, lilacs, and azaleas.

7. Have you heard about the high school English teacher recently suspended as a result of some things she wrote in her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn't mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.

What are your thoughts-If you're a parent is your child's teacher online and are you 'friend' or 'follower' there? If you're a teacher are you on facebook and do you accept or friend students on fb? How about their parents? If you're a student are you friends with your current or former teachers online? Do any of them have blogs you read? If you're a teacher or a parent do you ever use your blog as a place to vent your frustrations with our educational system? So much to discuss...

I am a homeschool parent... so I am my children's teacher. I had not heard about this until this post. So, my children's teacher is on Facebook and has a blog. I blog about my kids and my homeschool and the reality of that is that not every day is a good day and sometimes I vent my frustrations on there, but not often. But no one can fire me or call me out since I am also their parent. Sometimes my frustrations are because I am also their parent. It is hard to be both... to be firm when I need to be. I get tired of the struggles I have with my boys and yes... they are in high school and they want things as easy and quick as possible. So I understand her frustration, but have nothing to say about the public education system since my kids have never been in it... I have been homeschooling 20 years!!!!!'

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I posted my Wednesday Hodgepodge and totally missed #8. I only realized it after I saw a friends post. So I came back to add it in. 

So my random thought for this week is... I am so tired I am missing things... so time for b.e.d.



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Simple Women's Daybook

FOR TODAY...
Monday, Feb 22

Outside my window...
dark now and cold!!!!

I am thinking...
Spring can't come fast enough

I am thankful for...
God's Word
which I am enjoying reading
in a plan with my church for the whole year
I am a little behind but will be caught up by Thursday

From the learning rooms...
started a new Henty today for Historical Fiction

I am wearing...
brown slacks, white turtleneck, green long sleeve top over that, socks,
I was wearing sneakers but it is late and I took them off.

I am creating...
scrapbook pages later this week... hopefully.

I am going...
to get my hair cut with my Mom on Sat.
Hubby will drive us since our car is "not reliable" (his words)

I am remembering...
that I need to get to reading Pride and Prejudice
or I will never finish my 100 books this year

I am reading...
see above!!!
 and a few other things but concentrating on P and P for now

I am hoping...
that no one else gets the cold my son has right now

I am hearing...
hubby talking once in a while and the clatter of keys as I try and finish this so I have a post for today and don't miss a day for the blog every day in Feb. Challenge

On my mind...
sleep


Noticing that...
spring is not here yet...
as there is snow on the ground
again

Around the house...
a mess in my bedroom that I need to clean up

One of my favorite things...
watching movies with my hubby

A few plans for the rest of the week:
scrapbooking, school, exercise, an afternoon with Jessica doing whatever she wants, and hair cut on Sat.

From my camera...

 looking at this

 waiting for these

Join in and do your own or view other Daybooks at http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

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Blast From The Past - Pizza Hut Field Trip 1995

Click the Blast From The Past Rules Tab above to see the rules for my meme if you are a first timer or if you forget the rules.

Last week Jennifer Unsell  joined me in the Blast From The Past and her post reminded me of some photos I have of field trips when my kids were younger so...

this week I am sharing a field trip to Pizza Hut from 1995

Before the kids made their own pizzas they were given a tour of the Pizza Hut, the kids especially liked the big mixer which I thought I had a picture of... but couldn't find it... maybe that was a different trip to Pizza Hut... I will keep looking for it.

 Here is Rachel making her pizza

You don't usually sit on the counter to make a pizza but that is what Jessica did.

More cheese!! More cheese!

I hope they washed the counters off before they started serving customers later in the day!!! LOL

I am sure they did...

the kids made a mess.

Into the oven

Then they got to help cut their pizza....

and then the best part of the field trip...

eating the pizza.

I hope you will join me today or later this week.

Please leave a comment when you post because if it is later in the week I may miss it, but I have my comments moderated so that will notify me of your linking up.

Do you have any cute photos of your kids, on field trips, when they were little, that you want to share?
Or share any photo from your/your kids past, just...

Grab my button from the sidebar ...

post it and your pictures to your blog then com back here and ...

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Goal Planning Monday ~ 4~

I have been enjoying this new meme. I have been keeping on track with a number of things thanks to the goal planning and the accountability. I worked on my e-book that I want to sell, I did not scrapbook but did 2 other projects- covering a composition notebook and a binder with wallpaper samples my sister gave us. See posts on my blog from Sat. and yesterday. I did exercise 4 days this past week, in fact I exercised 5 days. Yeah me!!! I read Pride and Prejudice but I still did not finish. I added the TOS review date to my calendar and spreadsheet, it was only one... I thought I had more than that to add, so that was good.

My goals for this week are:  

1. Continue working on e-books that I want to eventually sell to the public on my own website. Please be in prayer for me about this. We need to pick a name for the family website, choose a website provider (free to start, maybe, but it has to allow sales of pdf's, and have a way to do a shopping cart), any suggestions please leave me a comment. I also need to pick a name for my part of the website as we will  have a variety of pages... mine will be mostly homeschool related. My daughters will also be doing some things and need names for their pages.
2. Continue exercising at least 4 days a week.
3. Read Pride and Prejudice and make real progress. I really want to finish this so I can achieve my yearly goal of reading 100 books and I am behind.
4. Catch up on Bible Reading I am a few days behind.
5. Keep on Blogging. I have one week and a day to go to have completed the blogging every day in Feb. challenge that a friend set up on Facebook.

Well, those are my goals for the week. Join us by setting some goals and clicking the button above to go to Katrina's site.

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