3 in 30 Challenge- July update and August goals

In July I accomplished these 3 goals:

1. I wrote a few thank you cards and wrote a few letters to send in the MAIL!   2.I cleaned up the back door area and desk.  I think it look's neater. I cleaned behind the desk and inside the desk and file cabinet as well.  It's so much easier to keep it clean after I clean it!  

Before

After

3.I did my workout 14 out of 15 days that I planned for this month with my new DVD - Jillian's 30 Day Shred.  It definitely was not easy since I have never done this before.  I only had time to do 15 days (of which I only did 14) as I went on vacation the last half of July.  I will continue doing this DVD as I want to have great results!  I don't really like getting sweaty and sore, but I guess I need to in order to shape up!  
    Here's what I want to accomplish in August:   1. Update both of my children's baby books.   2.I am going to make a good menu plan for September!  I am going to use this book Plan It Don't Panic: A Complete Meal Planning Resource as my resource to develop my plan and then carry it through the rest of the year.  

3. Make these bookshelves look neater.

I am so excited about the things that I'm accomplishing here in the 3 in 30 challenge. If you are not part of this group, then think about 3 things you want to do and do them. We are here to encourage you on your journey!  I know that I only post once a month, but that works for me!

3 in 30 Challenge- June update and July goals

In June I accomplished these 3 goals:

1. I finished the quilt for my daughter.    2. Clean up the laundry room area.

Before!

AFTER!  :)

3. I found 4 good freezer meal recipes, but did not make them as I originally planned because I'm waiting for some ingredients from the garden. But I made a new recipe plan!  Here are my goals for July:  1. I need to write some thank you cards and some letters to MAIL!2.I'm going to clean up the back door area and desk.  Plants will stay, but it will look neater (I hope!).

3.I'm going to workout 15 days this month with my new DVD coming- Jillian's 30 Day Shred.  Yikes!  I've never done her workouts before. I am so excited about the things that I'm accomplishing here in the 3 in 30 challenge. If you are not part of this group, then think about 3 things you want to do and do them. We are here to encourage you on your journey!

3 in 30 Challenge- May update and June Goals

So in May I accomplished all 3 of my goals, but I have to admit that I did them in the last two weeks!  I really wanted to get these done because I have NEW goals for June!

1.So, I sewed together all of my squares and here is the finished block.  My goal for June is to finish the quilt!

2.  I went through my ugly pile of recipe books and wrote down 30 recipes (on cards) that I can easily access.  I want to also make a Google Doc with all my recipes, but that will be another time.  At least now I have some recipes that I can work with instead of trying to sift through a pile of papers!

3. I cleaned and organize my bathroom. I spent one morning and took everything out and threw a bunch of garbage and recycling away.  It is much better.  Now I can remember to use up some of the fun trial sizes!

Before

I know it doesn't look like much of a change, but I was able to put things together in a more orderly fashion.

After

June Goals: 

1. It's time to clean up the laundry area!  I have so many products that I forget what I have.  Time to organize it.

2. As I said earlier I need to finish my baby quilt! I have to put on a border and backing and stitch it up. I haven't done this in SO long! I'm just winging it with my own pattern, but using this as a guide:

Source: blessingsoverflowing.com via Shonda on Pinterest

3. My goal is to make 4 freezer meals this month. I'm going to use ideas from Money Saving Mom and Pinterest.  I am trying to get more lunches and dinners in there.  I love cooking!

May 3 in 30 Challenge

I felt so good about what I accomplished last month.  Of course, I have WAY more than 3 goals a month, but I'm trying to find things that take me a whole month to do!  Well, maybe one of them won't take me all month, but if I take the time to really work on it, it will look great.  See if you can guess what that one is?

1. Sew together all the squares for my daughter's belated I-spy quilt.  I'm making it a rainbow!  Haven't sewed in over a year so I'm looking forward to this project.  My daughter turns one on May 6.

2. Go through my recipe books and write out 30 recipes that I regularly use.  This is going to be a long project to organize, but I'm starting with this. Yup, it's a big mess!

3. Clean and organize my bathroom.  This should be pretty easy, but I really want to make it easy to access things I keep meaning to use like lotions and soaps.

April 3 in 30 Challenge- Done!

This month I chose 3 things to do that were not too hard, but needed to be done and I did them!

1. Clean up the loft area- 

Before

After

2. Clean out my recipe book boxes.  Organization of recipes will come later.  I consolidated them all to one box.  I also have one more folder with all my loose paper recipes.

Before

After

3.Make a preschool activity fun box for my 3 year old son with 10 activities.

So, I made 10 activities and I wish I could say they were truly successful (my goal was independence), but he really likes to play with me.  But some are educational.  I will start with these and hopefully swap out with other ideas.  I don't let him play with the same thing over and over.  He has to go through all of the games before he can play his favorite again.

 Here is my list with a few picture examples:
* Match magnet letters to flashcards.
*Candy heart game- match colors and correct #
*Animal puzzle
*Match animal cards
*Lids- See The Educators' Spin On It for 8 ideas
*Put stickers on toilet paper tubes that have black dots on them
*Play dough
*Markers and coloring pad
*Alphabet magnets on a magnetic whiteboard
*Stamps

And if you want any more kid friendly ideas, I have another blog exclusively for that: Milk N' Honey Learn and Grow. Thanks for visiting!

April: 3 in 30 Challenge

I love making goals, but why do I hesitate?  Well, I procrastinate.  Yikes! I said it!  Ever since I started staying at home, I have lived in chaos.  Slowly, though, I am getting things accomplished.  So this month I am choosing 3 things to do:

1. Clean up the loft area-  we have a home group starting in a few weeks and the kids will be playing up there so that area needs some work.

2. Clean out my recipe book boxes.  Organization of recipes will come later.

3.Make a preschool activity fun box for my 3 year old son with 10 activities.

3 in 30 Challenge- November Week #1

This month I made 3 goals that I wanted to accomplish and here is the progress!

1. Exercise 3 times a week- YES (I also lost a few lbs!)

2. Clean up my daughter's room- didn't go in her room this week. I want to do this during her nap time, but I need to put her in another room for that. We've had a guest and so it hasn't worked out, but next week is wide open for that to happen.

3. Bring all the books in from the garage and put in the loft. Well, all the books are in the house and I am just about to go up and put them on the bookshelves in our brand new loft!

So, I have felt very good about my progress!

3 in 30 Challenge- November Goals

Can't you tell I just love challenges?  I think it's what keeps me going as a stay at home mom.  I have SO many things I want to do, but not sure how to organize.  I saw this website and thought I would try a 3 in 30 Challenge for November.

So here are my 3 goals that I want to accomplish this month:

*I want to clean up my 6 month old daughter's room.  I'm trying to weed out clothes that no longer fit and just tidy up her room.  It is a dumping ground right now!

*Bring all the books from the attic into the new loft in our house so I can start "educating" my little son!  I have so many great kids books that I used when I taught Kindergarten.

*I want to exercise 3 times a week!  I'm trying to lose weight and be healthy.

OK, that's my goals for November!