Homemaking Saturday: Review/Preview

On Homemaking Saturday I share something I'm doing or learning to make my home a better place.


I think I will make it a habit to write my Review/Preview on the last Saturday of the month. It's just simpler and it does make sense. I want to update you on a couple things I've written about on Saturdays this month, so it just seemed natural.

Basil

April
I got almost everything accomplished in April that I had hoped to! I did have to slow down before and after Pascha, but lately I haven't needed naps in the afternoon, which I'm so grateful for! I know the days are limited so I'm trying to make the most of them!

Peas

I finally ordered new glasses for myself, Sweet Girl has an appointment for the dentist this Wednesday, and all the photos I have are organized in photo albums. I have pictures waiting to be ordered (when there's a special!). That last one especially feels good to be done. I hadn't bothered to order pictures (except of Sweet Girl) since we've been married! When you move around so much, you don't have a place for photo albums. However, now we do and it feels good to have that set.

Zinnia and Lettuce

I planted seeds the middle week of April and there are sprouts already in most of them. I think I will need to replant a few things or start them indoors like I did with the basil. I'm so excited to see growth, I just hope I don't kill them somehow! It will be so wonderful to have real plants! Sweet Girl is just as excited. She loves to water them and always talks about them when we see them as we leave the house.

Spinach

And those curtains I mentioned last week? I finished them Sunday afternoon. They really make the room darker. I made them out of coat lining material I found at the thrift store. Four yards for $4! It's lightweight, yet non-transparent. It blocks those security lights too, which helps at night. I had to add some fabric at the top as it wasn't quite long enough. It's still not as long as I'd like, but it will do. It's temporary, really, as we won't be in this house much more than another year. I bought a cheap curtain rod at Dollar General. It's stretched to its maximum length and if we tried to open the curtains, it probably would come apart. So we just won't.

May
Here's my list for May:
1. Get more soil as well as tomato and broccoli plants. Plant.
2. Plan gifts and household needs through October and start shopping.
3. Start buying things for the baby.
4. Move Sweet Girl into her big bed and rearrange her room. Decorate it too.
5. Make dish soap.
6. Make a food plan with Coach. (Meals he feels comfortable cooking once in awhile after the baby's here.)
7. Get a curtain for the front door.
8. Make a cardboard kitchen for Sweet Girl.
9. Reorganize areas of the kitchen.
10. Reorganize storage boxes.

In my mind, it's really getting down the wire. I'm getting big. I'm going to be tired. I don't want to have a lot on my plate after this month. My list for June is small and I hope to keep it that way!

Homemaking Saturday: Review/Preview

On Homemaking Saturday I share something I'm doing or learning to make my home a better place.

I'm going to cheat a little and do my Review/Preview post for my Homemaking Saturday. After all, it is the last day of the month and Saturday, and all things are related anyway.

March
I feel like I didn't get much done around the house this month. However, it was still a very good month - it was a visiting month. The first week my best friend came with her two boys for most of the week while hubby was in Texas with the team for Spring Break. On the second weekend of the month, my in-laws and brother-in-law were here. And there were plenty of baseball games to go to each week, I did a lot of babysitting (that's done for now), and other visiting with friends. In addition to that, here's some other things that went on:

1. We bought our first mattress! We were previously using a set my parent's own. It was a full; this is a queen. (Ahh.. more room!) I'm proud to say we bought it locally and the owner of the store and his brother delivered and installed it. How cool is that?
2. We also bought Sweet Girl a mattress. We're using an old bed frame from my parents. It's all set up, but she's not sleeping in it yet... just getting used to it. I'm waiting for a "good time" for this transition.
3. I researched and bought cloth diapers and covers for the baby. Right now, and in the past, we've used my sister-in-law's cloth diapers. However, she's due in October so I figured it would just be easier for us invest in some ourselves, now that I understand what it's all about!
4. I was able to clean each zone at least somewhat each week, like I talked about here.
5. I organized various sore spots in the house such as the spice drawer, electronic accessories, and storage boxes.

April
Although I still feel very well physically, I can feel myself slowing down some. I will start my third trimester mid-April. I am a mix of ambition, "nesting", and panic, as well as wanting to retreat and only read or rest (like I was during the first trimester) at times. I know I'm going to have to slow down before too long. In my mind, I want to get "everything" done in April and May, so in June and July I can just relax and take care of any final details. So here are some of  my ambitions for April:

1. Take Sweet Girl to the dentist.
2. Buy new glasses for me.
3. Get gardening supplies and start gardening! (I hope to post about this next week.)
4. Organize photos into photo albums.
5. Make laundry soap. (Maybe a couple batches.)
6. Organize fabric.
7. Decorate Mia's room a bit.
8. Put coats and winter things away. (I'm finally convinced spring is here to stay!)
9. Get my coat cleaned.
10. Make dark curtains for our room. (For when the baby's here! Right now we have only a sheer curtain over a picture window. It can be pretty bright.)
11. If possible, do things on May's list!!!

Phew! Does that make you tired? Well, oddly enough it energizes me and I feel I could do all of them right now before Sweet Girl wakes up! I'm sure it's from some strange pregnancy hormone fogging my perception of reality. But, God willing, by the end of April I will get all those things done. Thankfully, I already have my Easter/Pascha gifts for Coach and Sweet Girl. We are so excited to celebrate Easter with my family and our church community. We have celebrated at a different church every year since we've been married. It will be nice to be somewhere so familiar and comfortable. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and month of April!

Belated Review/Preview

If I could take pictures with my eyes and write posts with me head, you would hear a lot more from me... maybe too much! A lot is going on my head, as usual, but not a lot of time for blogging. As I wrote about recently, blogging is just lower on the priority list right now.

November was a good month. For the most part it was calm and normal, with a few birthday parties sprinkled in to add some fun. Of course, the almost last week of the month was spent traveling - lots of traveling. It was wonderful to see family, but exhausting for us all (we had a lot of driving!).

Goal-wise I was more slack. I didn't get all my Christmas gifts bought and made. As of now, I will go to a couple stores tonight (baby free!) and get some stocking-stuffer type gifts. We still have to draw a name on my side of the family (the siblings do this) and I will have to buy for that person. Other than that, I'm done with spending! But I have a lot of gifts to still make. Once I have everything made, I will post a picture of each thing. I'm pretty excited about the ones I've done already. (This might be after Christmas, since some people who read my blog are, or parents of, recipients.) So that is my sole goal for December - finish gifts!

Until then, don't expect to hear from me really. Maybe, but probably not. It's a busy, and wonderful, time of year.

October Review... November Preview

I was able to accomplish most of my goals for October. Personally, I worked on reading a life of a saint and doing pilate abs each morning. Both are now habits although I still have to make myself do pilates.

Around the house I organized cluttered areas, made laundry soap, updated our important information sheets, and made a habit of sorting out pictures when I upload them (aka deleting the bad ones!).

With Sweet Girl, I worked on giving her more opportunites to go potty. When I needed to go, I simply asked her if she wanted to and usually she did. Sometimes she peed; most the time, nothing. I didn't do any "lessons" with her like I wanted to.

My project for the month was scrapbooking. I was able to get everything organized as well as get the book updated through our wedding. I wish I could have done more, but I am happy to have accomplished what I did.

I had goals for my blogs that I didn't meet but I was able to create a vision and an organized approach so I hope to stay focused and write more on them.

Here are my goals for November:

Me

• continue doing pilates each morning
• read Spiritual Counsels: Select Passages from My Life In Christ (St. John of Kronstadt) each day
• say an akathist once a week

Around the House

• wipe down Sweet Girl's chair each night
• clean in a "zone" each week
• buy large canning jars and organize dry goods

Sweet Girl

• buy tights and onesies
• plan a lesson each Tuesday
• do lesson on Wednesday
• have "exercise time" a few times a week

Projects

• Organize recipes
• Start Christmas shopping

What are your plans for November?