Looking for a last-minute Christmas idea for some people on your list? Want to bless and impact your family and friends by encouraging them to take a little time each day to write down their blessings?
Please note: Orders must be placed by midnight December 12th to guarantee arrival by Christmas. We cannot guarantee arrival on orders placed after that date.
Have a question about your order or need any help with an order you’ve already placed? Email joy @ moneysavingmom.com.
And thank you so much for how you’ve celebrated with me this year as I’ve spread my wings and tried some new things — like creating this Blessings Journal. I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot this past year and am looking forward to what 2015 holds.
I’ll share more soon about my goals for 2015, what I learned through mistakes and struggles in 2014, and some {good} changes I’m making for 2015. In the mean time, I just wanted to say thank you so much for being on this adventure with me! I appreciate each and every one of you!
Y’all. You can just laugh at me. Because I clearly am overly ambitious.
I guess that can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon how you look at it.
I had every intention of getting every thing on my Morning Plan done today — at least by early afternoon. And, once again, that didn’t happen.
The good news? My house is cleaner than it’s been in a long time tonight and we got a LOT done today.
The bad news? I didn’t exercise or get my hair washed today. And don’t even ask me how many days it’s been since I washed me hair. We won’t even go there.
I woke up t-i-r-e-d today. I’ve been getting a lot of sleep (like 8-10 hours most nights) for the past 4 nights as I’m trying to recover from being sick, but despite all that sleep, my body still seems to be wanting more.
So I went back to bed for another hour this morning… which meant that I started my day behind. But at least I got a great night’s sleep!
I let the kids sleep in a little while I finished up my morning blogging work and then I got busy on my Morning Plan.
I’m almost finished with Addicted to Busy. It’s not the best book I’ve read on the importance of slowing down, but I’ve found some thought-provoking nuggets in it.
It was our day for oatmeal this morning. Everyone can fix their own oatmeal themselves — except for Silas needs a little help with it — so that made breakfast really easy.
I oversaw morning chores while cleaning up the kitchen and doing some laundry and then helped Silas with his Kindergarten lessons while the girls got started on their morning school.
Jesse had two morning meetings, but he popped by for a bit between meetings to grab some breakfast and check in to see how things we’re going.
It was Kaitlynn’s day to get her hair washed. She is growing her hair out (“to her knees” she tells me — we’ll see!!) so it’s always a rather big task to wash and brush through it. If I put detangler on it, brush it, and then braid it every day, it’s not too bad. But if I skip one day, it’s not so good!
After I was finished with her hair-washing and fixing, she got back to her school and I did some more clean-up, made my bed (!), and worked on the laundry.
I made a snack for Silas and me to eat (I typically eat small meals/snacks every few hours and Silas is happy to join me… he’s usually always up for eating! I think it’s a boy thing?? ;)) and then sat down to read to the kids.
They made bracelets and other creations with loom bands while I read to them. After a morning where there had been some attitude struggles, it was so nice to see them all getting along nicely and having fun creating together.
After our reading time, Jesse got home and I went upstairs to the office to work while he did lunch, devotions, and more school with the kids.
I had a podcast interview, two phone calls, and then it was the usual emails, blogging work, answering comments, overseeing social media, scheduling posts, and so on.
Before I knew it, it was 6:00 p.m.! I headed downstairs to help pick up before dinner and then we sat down to eat (Jesse made a delicious new recipe tonight — Cincinnati Chili Dog Bowls. I love all this experimenting he has been doing in the kitchen!)
After dinner, we finished putting the laundry away while Jesse cleaned up the kitchen. And then we all got started in on the Kids’ Room. After opening their closet and a few drawers, I could tell this was going to be a job that was going to take longer than my allotted 45 minutes. Oh well, such is life!
Kathrynne got busy going through all the CDs and DVDs and organizing them while I worked on the closet and cleaned out underneath the bed.
After about an hour and a half of work, we had this whole trash bag full of items to get rid of. Can you believe it??
While it might not look that much different, knowing that I’ve gone through every nook and cranny and organized everything in this closet feels so good.
And the CDs and DVDs got picked up…
And all organized! We also created a system and rules for their use and organization — to hopefully prevent them from getting so disorganized in the future.
Leave a Comment & You Could Win This Stack of Books!
In my cleaning today, I found some more books to get rid of, most all that are ones I’ve loved and just want to pass onto someone who could be encouraged by them! Plus, I threw in a copy of both my book, Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, and a copy of my new Choose Gratitude Blessings Journal!
Who wants to win them? To win, just leave a comment on this post and I'll choose one winner tomorrow evening and will mail them to you so you'll have them in time for Christmas. Some of these books are brand-new or in like-new condition and would be great for gifts for people on your Christmas list!
Did you work on cleaning your house today? If you blogged about participating in this Clean Your House For Christmas Challenge, leave the direct link to your post below that is specifically about this challenge. Or, leave a comment telling us how your cleaning went today.
The winner of yesterday’s stack of books is Kim (threekstrio@) — I sent you an email tonight to ask for your address.
Hoping to have more order and organization in your life in 2015?
Designed by a busy mom of four, The Time Keeper is a beautiful way to organize and manage your busy days all in one place. Using this dated, weekly planner with its practical and uncomplicated layout, you'll find it easy to keep your act together.
This very affordable planning system is a simple way to calm the chaos that so easily happens if there’s no good plan and organization in place. The Time Keeper includes all the basics you need—calendar, organizer, shopping lists—without the extras that might overwhelm and discourage you, or even make you feel guilty. Instead, you’ll find joy in a well-kept life!
If you're looking for a very simple way to stay organized, I highly recommend checking out The Time Keeper. It's beautiful and you'll feel more peaceful just looking at how straightforward and uncluttered it is!
Here’s what the planner has in it:
Space for daily entries
Menu planning
Weekly “To Do” lists
Perforated Grocery Lists
Monthly pages with project lists
Planning ahead for 2015
A page to jot down gift ideas for family and friends
Several pages for your own ideas and notes
2 Organizer pockets
Spiral bound
Closed size is 8.5″ x 5.75″ Dimensions do not include the spiral
Starla who creates The Time Keeper is generously giving away 10 of The Time Keeper planners to readers here this week. To enter to win, just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. 10 winners will be chosen and posted early next week. This giveaway ends Thursday, December 11, at 11:59 pm, CST.
Ornaments4Orphans sells beautiful fair trade items, handmade by hard-working global artisans. Their mission is twofold: to provide orphan care and orphan prevention by giving opportunity for parents and caregivers in impoverished communities to work, earn, and provide for their families.
I’ve seen quite a few of their different products and purchased a few as gifts for my children and have been impressed with the quality and the prices. You can check out the products they offer here.
These might make great gifts for someone on your Christmas list. It’s a great way to not only give a meaningful and unique gift, but to also help support a great cause in the process!
Five winners will receive a prize package from Ornaments for Orphans that includes: a Child’s Paper Bead Bracelet (winner chooses color), a Whistle Key Chain, a Zebra Painted Pencil Shaker, a Carved Cheetah, a Banana Fiber Angel Ornament, and a Maasai Necklace.
To enter to win, just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. 5 winners will be chosen and posted early next week. This giveaway ends Thursday, December 11, at 11:59 pm, CST.
