Home Management Binder

This is an excerpt from the Home Management Binder I made to help keep myself motivated and on track with getting things done around here. Each day, Monday thru Friday, is devoted to a specific area of the house on top of the things that need to be taken care of on a daily basis. After using it for awhile, some weeks I follow it to the letter, other weeks I just clean as I want to. Following this format has gotten me in a habit of doing some cleaning tasks I had never even thought to do before. Breaking the cleaning tasks into separate days helped me to feel less overwhelmed and I end each day with a sense of accomplishment knowing my home is CLEAN clean, not just wiped down.

Edited to add --->

Here's the rest of my week...

These need a little updating/tweaking since we moved but they still work pretty well.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Fall, Ya'll!!

The first day of fall brought rain which made for a perfect day of crafts and playtime indoors. I helped the kids make thumbprint fall trees to celebrate the season and each of them shared why they are excited about fall. Aidan also wanted to make sure everyone knows his tree is "manly". My sisters and I did these same type trees in preschool and my mom has them framed. It's so much fun recreating my own memories with my children.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for my husband, kids, family and faith everyday but today I'm especially thankful for having had Aaron home with us all week. Usually by this point, I'm ready for him to head back to work and get back to normal but I'm really going to miss having him here next week. We haven't done anything particularly special, just enjoyed being together as a family.

FOUR!!

On Sunday, Hannah & Aidan turned four!! We had a visit from Gamma, Pops, Gea & Grandaddy on Saturday and then Nana, Poppa & GG are coming down this weekend. Then we'll be getting together with some little friends on Sunday afternoon. I cannot believe FOUR years have past since they were born. I'm amazed at how healthy and BIG they are! God has truly blessed me and I'm so very thankful!

Hook 'Em

Horns fans since birth!!

Patient

"Be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2

This week has been a learning experience for all of us. Patience is something everyone struggles with, especially me. I've gotten compliments and comments on my ability to be patient with my kids but it truly is exahausting for me. But it's worth it to me, to give my chidlren a fair chance at figuring out how things work and how life works on their own.

Every Monday I go through the week's character trait and give the kids examples or situations. So this Monday I gave them several scenarios and asked them to tell me which person in each example was being patient or impatient. They did well with it and I expected them to, the patience talk is something we've had before. What I didn't expect was for them to begin encouraging each other to be patient in some of the very scenarios we had talked about originally. They didn't go about it in a bossy way, they genuinely seemed to want to help one another.

I don't want to give my kids the idea that I'm perfect and that everything I tell them or expect from them is just because I'm a mean ole mama who wants everything her way. I want them to understand WHY I choose to parent them they way I do. When we say our Bible verse together each week, I remind them that the words we are saying are God's words, words that He wants us to learn and remember so that we can make good choices. I also tell them that Mommy & Daddy do the things we do because one day we will be held accountable to God for the way we raised them. I'm sure that may seem like way too much information for not-quite four year olds but they really seem to grasp what I'm saying and I hope that God's Word will stick with them and be a comfort and encouragement to them as they grow up. While we're on the topic, this week brought a very proud moment for me. Hannah memorized her Bible verse!! She was talking to Nana & Poppa and I asked her if she could tell them her Bible verse if I said it with her. Well, she just started saying it all on her own and I think "in love" was the only part I had to remind her of. It was so sweet to hear her speak those words.

God is really using teaching my children to minister to me. It's such a humbling reminder each week to be aware of my actions and behaviors. I know I've said it before, but I just didn't forsee myself learning right along with them like I have. It's an incredible blessing and I'm very thankful!

1st practice

Tonight the kids had their first soccer practice. It went really well, all the kids played well together but leaving was another story. We had two (one of them was Aidan) who DID NOT want to go home. haha I think the kids are going to have a blast!

A little update....every night at bedtime, Aaron has been talking to the kids about soccer. He goes over the "rules", asks them questions, etc. Being the creatures of habit that they are, they asked him tonight to talk about soccer again so I asked them what their favorite part of practice was. Their answers were SO typical Hannah and Aidan. Aidan had TWO favorites, keeping the ball inside the white lines and keeping the balls inside the orange cones (a little drill we did with them). Ready for Hannah's? Hannah's favorite part was kicking the ball OUTSIDE of the white lines. hahaha That child is all for games without boundaries or rules but once you start adding rules into the mix, she's off picking daisies. :) I have a feeling she might contribute a few gray hairs to mama's head when she gets a bit older.

Here are a few pictures I snapped as we were walking out the door: