A little organization...

So, when I said a week, what I really meant was two weeks of craziness and still I'm not as organized as I was hoping to be. Have you ever had one or two of those weeks?

As a refresher, here were my first (and second) week goals:

1) Make daily Bible reading a must, one chapter and a few minutes to pray and prep
2) 8 Minutes in the Morning  , every morning
3) Revise daily routine calendar and add in Daily Docket (Organized Simplicity  )


4) Revise homemaking binder to reflect new appointment schedule.

I did manage to read almost every morning. I think I missed one but overall I'm please with the progress there. However #2 was a bit more challenging. We just moved our youngest son into his brother's room which has meant that he, instead of waking up at 9 every morning, is now waking up at 7 or so. This means, no exercise time for mommy! I haven't given up on it completely. I just have to find a way to make it work and still get some sleep and a shower! 

Revising my calendar and homemaking binder were started but are a larger project than I had anticipated. I did start a daily to-do list, but have not as yet printed the docket sheets for myself. However, I did get the organization for my downstairs started so at least we made some progress!

How did things go for you?

As we head into the weekend, I want to encourage you to keep pressing on with the goals you set the first week and to be thinking about next week's' project: organizing your children! :D

Organization Quotes

I had to share one of my favorite organization/inspirational quotes:

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
~William Morris

And since I can't resist a funny one too:

"Simplify, simplify, simplify," said Emerson. Thoreau replied, "One simplify would do, 
Ralph."

Organizing Prayer Time

I have been wanting, as part of this first week to talk about making sure as you are organizing yourself, that you are planning time for Bible reading and prayer time.

I found Jennifer's post today over at A Heart for the Home and since she already said it so well, I'm sharing her thoughts! It's called 5 Ways to Organize Your Prayer Time. Enjoy!

Organizational Resource List

Order marches with weighty and measured strides. Disorder is always in a hurry.
~Napoleon Bonaparte

I thought, for those of you who would like to start an organizational library, I'd share some of my favorite materials:

1) Large Family Logistics: While this book was written by a mom of many, it's ideas are just as helpful to a mom of few. Kim is practical, easy to read and understands that seasons change and you have to be flexible, no matter how many littles call you mom

2) Organized Simplicity: Tsh is great if you struggle with being a pack rat. She deals in simple and she does it well.

3) 24 Hours Is All You Get: While Mrs. Bradrick and I don't see eye to eye about how scheduled things should be in a home, I do appreciate her wisdom on making sure that the things we choose to spend our time on are worth the time we spend.

These are the books and CDs I found most helpful. What resources help you organize?

Organization: The Fall Fronier

I will start this out on honest footing from post #1: I am NOT an organizational guru. I hate schedules and I don't like all the fancy apps and gizmos designed to "make life easier". They overwhelm me. Naturally, I'm a "just wing it" kind of girl, the kind that makes a list for the hundredth time and loses it again. Up until I had my youngest to date, I could still make that work. Now I find myself facing baby #5's fast-approaching arrival and I still feel like I'm trying to adjust to baby #4! So I decided that I'd better get some things in hand first, before we start this next adventure. Thus, this month-long journey to more organization. Notice, that I didn't say just organization, but rather MORE organization. Let's face it, Rome wasn't built in a day and the perfect organization system for me won't be either. Right now, I'll shoot for better. Maybe great will be baby #6's goal...

Anyway, I thought this first week I'd better tackle myself. If I can't be (more) organized, how am I going to get my house and children working like a well-oiled machine? Plus, if mom is mentally, spiritually and physically organized, she's so much more ready to help her family follow suit. So, my plan is to set goals each Monday (or Tuesday in the case of a holiday) and check in on Friday to see how we all are doing. (Notice how confident I am that you will be joining me on this journey!)

Goals for the week of September 3-7:
1) Make daily Bible reading a must, one chapter and a few minutes to pray and prep
2) 8 Minutes in the Morning, every morning
3) Revise daily routine calendar and add in Daily Docket (Organized Simplicity)
4) Revise homemaking binder to reflect new appointment schedule

Tomorrow I will be posting my favorite get organized resources, so if you have one to share, don't forget to stop by and leave a comment!

Starting Tuesday September 3...

It has been on my mind for a while to get myself and my home more organized before the arrival of baby #5 in a couple of months and as part of that, I decided to blog my organizational journey for the month of September (nothing like blogging for accountability!) 

So with that in mind, starting on Tuesday, I will be blogging on the tips, thoughts and struggles of getting a home and family on the road to organization. We will be talking about helping our children be organized, how to find more time for what is necessary and how to eliminate time wasters, setting goals and making sure they get done plus a healthy dose of good old-fashioned Biblical encouragement. 

I hope to see you all around here on Tuesday!