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Oh, I love this! Jenae from I Can Teach My Child has a Build-Your-Own Snowman Kit complete with a downloadable template and printable tags.
These would make fantastic gifts to give to young children. Or, you could print them to use for a fun project in December.
And don’t forget about the printable Felt Snowflake Busy Bag.
Download a free Christmas Preschool Printable Pack.
Download a free Nativity Pre-K Printable Pack.
Download another free Nativity Preschool Printable Pack.
Some of you may be feeling overwhelmed as we’re nearing the end of this 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge. It might seem disheartening that we’ve spent three weeks on one habit and you still have a mile long list of dozens upon dozens of other habits you want to incorporate, too.
Don’t lose heart! Just because you feel so far behind or so far from where you want to be, look at how far you’ve come.
As you know the habit I’ve been working on for this 21-Day Challenge was getting up earlier every day. I’ve not had a perfect track record and there were one or two days I did sleep in a little past my goal waking up time. But I’m so happy to be nearing the end of the challenge and feeling like this waking up early thing is becoming a true habit, not just a good idea or something I did for a few days in a row and then fell off the bandwagon again.
It’s not been easy. There have been days when I really, really, really wanted to go back to sleep. But I made myself get up. There have been many times when I came up with a long list of excuses why it was okay for me to sleep in. But I made myself get up. Knowing that you all were with me in this challenge served as an enormous motivation to not slack off when I really wanted to.
And you know what’s been a bonus? Committing to get up early every morning has set so many other good habits in motion:
::Because I’m getting up earlier, I’m having more lengthy and meaningful time reading God’s Word every morning.
::Because I’m getting up earlier, I’m finding time to exercise almost every single day.
::Because I’m getting up earlier, I’m getting a jumpstart on my day and this has enabled me to get a lot more done and be more efficient.
::Because I’m getting up earlier, I’m getting a lot of stuff done before the children wake up. So by the time they wake up, I can give them my undivided attention and focused.
::Because I’m getting up earlier, I’m going to bed earlier and this has allowed me to be get more consistent and restful sleep at night.
That’s the beauty of intentionally working on developing discipline: Discipline begets discipline. When I am disciplined in one area, that resolve spills over into other areas. As I’ve experienced in getting up earlier, intentionally making one consistent habit change can slowly lead to amazing transformation in many areas of your life.
So stick with developing your one habit, don’t give up, and keep with it even when you don’t feel like it. One day soon, you may wake up and realize you’ve changed your whole life… just by beginning with one simple habit!
What about you? How has focusing on making one habit a priority spilled over into other areas of your life? I’d love to hear!
You do a lot of yeast baking. What is the most cost efficient way to get yeast? I find that buying it in the jars gets pricey, but I am nervous that by buying in bulk it will lose its effectiveness. Any suggestions? -Brandy
I highly suggest that you buy yeast in bulk. The last time I price compared, it would cost $20 more to buy yeast by the jar at the grocery store versus in 1-lb. bags at Sam’s Club. And I’m guessing prices have only increased since then.
Since we’ve not found it to be cost-effective to purchase a Sam’s Club membership and we don’t have Costco here, we buy yeast once a year on the get-in-free days at Sam’s Club. It’s currently priced at $4.68 for two pounds–which is enough to last us for a year.
The yeast comes in vacuum-packed bags. These do not need to be refrigerated or frozen, but I go ahead and stick them in the freezer. Once I open the bags, I put the yeast in a ziptop freezer bag and continue to store it in the freezer.
I just use the yeast straight from the freezer in my recipes. For more information, you can read a very detailed tutorial on yeast from King Authur’s Flour.
I’d love to hear from the rest of you: What’s your target price for yeast? Any great suggestions for where to find good deals on yeast other than buying it at a warehouse store?
Mindy shows you how to make your own Christmas Potpourri. I love this idea because it’s unique, consumable, and inexpensive. I may make some for us–and to give as gifts!
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Did you know that if you cut the roots off of green onions and stick them in a jar the tops will re-grow? Head on over to Creative Family Moments for more details.
Supposedly, you can do this multiple times, saving you having to buy green onions for awhile! We don’t use green onions too often around here, but I’m tempted to buy some and find some uses for them just for the fun of trying out this experiment. 🙂
Has anyone else done this before? I’d love to hear how it worked.
Download a free Christmas Tree Preschool Printable Pack. I downloaded this over the weekend and we had fun doing some of the activities yesterday!
Breakfasts
Granola bars
Toasted bagels, scrambled eggs
Steel cut oats with dried cranberries
Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal
Waffles, scrambled eggs
Oatmeal
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls, scrambled eggs, fruit saladLunches
Lunch at Sonic
PB&J, carrot sticks, apple slices
Annie’s macaroni & cheese, peas, pears
Hamburgers, sweet potatoes, fruit salad
Tossed salad with hard-boiled eggs, feta cheese, and dried cranberries
Leftovers x 2Snacks
Homemade Salted Caramel Mocha
Fruit/veggies
Cheese/crackersDinners
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake, tossed salad
Baked Tilapia, sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli
Cheesy Vegetable Chowder, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, apple slices
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with Brown Rice Crust, fruit salad, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole, steamed veggies
Dinner with extended familyFreezer Cooking
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with Brown Rice Crust
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Slow Cooker Black BeansFreezer Cooking for the Holidays:
Glazed Cinnamon Scone Mix
Biscuit Dough for Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
I skipped last week’s goals post as I knew that, with all the Thanksgiving and Black Friday craziness, I’d probably just be doing good to survive, keep everyone dressed and fed, keep the house in pretty organized order, and to get decent sleep at night.
It was a good thing I didn’t set goals because, well, I pretty much lived the whole week in survival mode. We made it through, I kept on top of the laundry, the house stayed pretty clean, I got decent sleep, but mostly all the non-essentials didn’t happen.
And that’s okay. Sometimes, the goal-setting and to-do lists just need to get set aside so we can spend extra time with family and friends–which is exactly what happened last week.
But this week? It’s back to setting goals and tackling to-do lists.
Here are my goals from two weeks ago:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading Little Town On the Prairie aloud to the children.
2. Do some Thanksgiving crafts together.
3. Wrap and drop off Operation Christmas Child boxes.Personal Goals
4. Finish reading EntreLeadership,
He Heard Hannah, Kisses from Katie, Getting Things Done, andBecoming a Woman of Influence.(I’m really and truly going to try and finish at least a few of these books this week!)
5. Go to bed early and get up early, as part of my 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge.
6. Run 6 miles.
Home Management Goals
7. Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish every week day.
8. Plan out all my freezer cooking for the holidays.Business Goals
9. Run a special promotion/freebie offer for my book.
10. Write daily posts for the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life series.
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading The Boxcar Children.
2. Do some fun Christmas crafts/activities with the children (I’ll be posting about some of these!)
3. Check out Christmas books from the library, wrap them up, and let the children unwrap them and read them together.
Personal Goals
4. Finish reading EntreLeadership, Kisses from Katie, and Getting Things Done.
5. Go to bed early and get up early, as part of my 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge.
6. Run 6.5 miles.
Home Management Goals
7. Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish every week day.
8. Make Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (yes, finally, I’m going to try this recipe and post about how it goes!)
Business Goals
9. Finish three articles for publications/sites (they are all due at the end of this week, but maybe I’ll actually get them finished early?)
10. Finish the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life series. Start 21 Days to a More Organized Christmas series.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
Mamasource is offering a voucher for a Little Tikes Double Duty Engine and Workbench for $50 with free shipping. This workbench is priced at $69.99 on Amazon.com.
Note: After you purchase this voucher, you’ll need to redeem it on LittleTikes.com by December 1, 2011.
(Note: Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)
Guess what? Target has my favorite jeans back on a daily deal today! They aren’t quite as inexpensive as what we’ve seen in the past, but it’s a good deal if you need some new jeans.
Add two pairs of Juniors’ Mossimo Supply Jeans to your shopping cart and go to checkout. It should give you both of them for $16 total with free shipping.
(Note: The links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here.)
Oh the irony! I’m writing a post after 10 p.m. that was supposed to be finished much earlier today… and the post is on nothing other than getting it done early. As you can see, this is one of those areas of discipline I sorely need to work on. 🙂
I read a post on Simple Mom back in July that rocked my world. It was by one of my favorite people — Mandi Ehman — and it was on The Secret of Success for a Work-At-Home Mom. Here’s a snippet:
So what’s the key to success? Simply put: Get it done early.
This principle applies to your home and family life as well as your business. Whenever possible, get it — whatever it may be — done early and eliminate the stress and frustration of being pulled in a million directions.
Avoid the guilt of shushing your teething baby because of looming deadlines or groaning in frustration when the school nurse calls, or saying no — yet again — to a fun activity with your kids.
Now obviously, since I’m writing this post after 10 p.m., I’ve still got a long way to go in actually practicing this getting-it-done-early principle. But ever since reading this post, I’ve been consciously thinking about how implementing this principle would revolutionize my life–and cut down on a lot of stress!
You see, I’ve always been a late person. I was born 17 days late and it seems I’ve been late ever since. Whether it’s getting to an appointment or getting an article done, I’m almost always running behind–usually either just under the wire or late. Sometimes, really, really late.
In my lifetime, I’ve made a lot of excuses for my tardiness, but most all of them boil down to procrastination, improper prioritization, and a lack of planning ahead:
::Instead of planning to leave 30 minutes before I need to be out the door, I wait until 30 minutes before I need to leave to take my shower, get everyone dressed, gather up all the things we need for the outing, and get everyone out the door.
::Instead of looking at my calendar two or three weeks in advance, planning out articles I need to write, and writing them a week or two in advance, I often wait until the day they are due to even begin outlining them.
…And on and on it goes. No wonder there are many times I run around like a chicken with my head cut off! 🙂
Knowing the problem is good, but that doesn’t fix anything. I actually have to make changes if I want to experience any benefits. So I’m resolving to not just recognize the problem, but actually come up with a solution. Or at least begin working diligently in that direction!
In the next 24 hours, I’m going to sit down and map out a specific plan of action for a few of the areas where I especially struggle with getting things done on time. I’ll let you know my plan of action tomorrow.
Practical Application
1. Read Mandi’s fantastic article, The Secret of Success for a Work-At-Home Mom. Even if you’re not a work-at-home mom or not even a mom, you’ll find some great encouragement in it.
2. Choose one area that you especially struggle with being behind in or running late for.
2. Write down a simple plan for how you are going to stop procrastinating, start planning ahead, and begin getting things done early. Come back and share your plan with us so we can be inspired!
And if you’re one of those amazing people who is always on time or early and always has projects projects done before the deadline, would you do me a favor and share your secrets in the comments? I’d love to learn from you! Seriously. I need all the help I can get in this area!
