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Here's What's New  
Marie Madeline Studio is one of my very favorite companies in existence. Run by a very talented and creative mother and daughter team, they design sewing patterns, sell fabric and offer ready-made items which are handcrafted right in their home studio. 
Their work is meticulous and their customer service is spectacular. You won't be disappointed with anything you order from them. 
And this weekend, I'm so excited because five winners will get a free $50 store credit to Marie Madeline Studio. You can use this to choose from their patterns, fabric and sewing notions, or have something custom made! 
If I were to recommend something, I'd definitely tell you to get one of their aprons. Of all the aprons I've worn over the years, the aprons from Marie Madeline Studio are my very favorite. If you are looking for a special gift for a budding little chef or a fun present for a special gal in your life who loves to bake and cook, check out the Marie Madeline Studio Aprons. 
And be sure to follow Marie Madeline on Facebook to be notified of their specials, sales, and new products. Also, check out their Pinterest page. While you're at it, do stop by their blog as they have decorating ideas, gorgeous pictures of their recent projects, and delicious recipes. Click below and type in your name and email address to enter to win a FREE $50 credit to anything from Marie Madeline. This giveaway ends Giveaway ends Thursday, August 28, at 11:59 pm, CST. Five winners will be chosen and posted early next week.
Have you tried a business idea that worked really well for someone else but didn’t work at all for you? Have you put a lot of effort into a business idea that ended up flopping? If your answer is yes to either of these questions, I would love to consider featuring your story in one of the chapters of my upcoming book. You can leave a comment sharing the details of your story (what the business idea was, why you tried it, and what the results were) or you can email your story to crystal @ moneysavingmom.com I may contact you for further details if I need more information or want to clarify something. Please note: We will be using some of the comments and emails in the book. If you'd rather we not use your story or would like to remain anonymous, please say say when commenting or emailing. 
Did you enjoy your weekend? We had a busy day on Saturday with lots of projects to accomplish, but our Sunday afternoon and evening was spent just totally relaxing and hanging out… which was such a nice change of pace after a very full week last week. The interesting thing was that, even though I had told myself I could sleep in as late as I wanted to, I woke up both mornings by 7:30 a.m.! This might seem really “late” to those of you who always get up by 5 a.m. on the weekends, but I was excited because I fully expected that I’d sleep in until 8:30 a.m. as I often do on weekends. But nope, I think my body is starting to fully embrace this early to bed, early to rise thing again!  Today’s Rise & Shine Assignment Today’s assignment is to really make your morning ritual a habit. Because I’ve been getting up and doing practically the same routine for years, it is very ingrained in me as a habit. It looks a little different every morning, but it’s very rare for me to not start my day with Bible reading, writing in my Blessings journal, reading at least a few pages from a book, and praying over my day. It’s amazing how this refuels my tank and starts my day off well! Now, some of you might be reading this and thinking, that’s a great idea to start your day off with some quiet reading, prayer, and reflection, but that would never work for me because my kids get up so early. Or, they’ll get up as soon as I wake up, no matter what time it is! If you’re feeling like that, I encourage you not to be discouraged! Here are a few suggestions: - Have your child get to watch a special movie or show during that time. Just plan on it so you don't feel guilty.
- Let your child play an educational app for an allotted amount of time.
- Have your child go back to their bedroom with a special basket of toys and let them know they can play quietly and come out when the timer goes off.
- Have the child snuggle with you if you're sitting and reading/having devotions.
I'm sure some others have some great suggestions here that I didn't list. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this topic, too! This Morning's Report - Got up at 5:30 a.m. I’m still hoping to start consistently getting up at 4:30 a.m., but I’m really happy that I’m at least consistently getting up by 5:30 a.m. *and* getting 7 or more hours of sleep every night. That’s a big accomplishment for me right now!
- Headed downstairs and made coffee. Did a quick clean of a few things in the kitchen.
- Brought the laundry downstairs from the upstairs hampers and started a load of laundry.
- Straightened our room and bathroom.
- Sat down with my cup of coffee and read my Bible, read a chapter from a devotional book, wrote in my Blessings Journal, and prayed over my day.
- Answered emails and comments. Scheduled some posts. Sent a few project emails out to my team members.
- Placed an order on Amazon. Updated and scheduled some posts on Pinterest.
- Got the kids up and around and started on their morning routines. Switched the laundry from the washer to the dryer and started another load. Made sure the kids did their chores correctly.
- The kids ate breakfast with Jesse while I finished up a little more computer work.
 - Taught Silas Kindergarten while the girls got started on their morning school. {I’m loving getting to teach Kindergarten again! This is such a fun grade to teach… especially because Silas is usually always eager and excited to do school!}
- I made myself a bowl of oatmeal with a little chocolate and almond butter mixed in (yum!) and then sat down to help the girls with their school.
- We finally finished our morning homeschooling, had a quick lunch, I started the dishwasher, and then Jesse took the kids to swim practice and I got a chance to sit down and do some more blogging work and write this post.
- I have a few more projects to wrap up this afternoon and then I’m going to exercise, finally get in a shower, and tackle a mountain of laundry. And then we’re off to have dinner with friends tonight!
How was your morning this morning? What are your suggestions for having a good morning routine or quiet time even if you have early risers? | | |
