Category: Yearly Goals

Yesterday I had an experience that reminded me of the importance of doing what needs to be done.  It was a simple thing but it made an impression on me.  The weather really cooled off here this past week, and although I knew I needed to just get outside and plant my bulbs, I wimped out.  For some reason the change in temperature really seemed to affect me, and I couldn’t warm up, which killed my desire to do any yard work.  At last it was Saturday and I was without excuse.  The frost took my gorgeous dahlias from heavy with bloom to black and limp overnight.  So in spite of my desire to do other things, I went out yesterday in the chilly gray and got started.  After I’d been working for a while, the sun came out.  I noticed the warmth on my back first, followed by golden sunlight shining across the yard.  As I worked, I couldn’t help but think about life.  Sometimes we start things, because they need to be done, under circumstances that feel gray and cloudy.  And sometimes we start things and the clouds get worse.  Sometimes the ground we’re working is hard and other times the soil is soft and easy to work.  But sometimes, when we’re working hard because it’s the right thing to do, the sun comes out from behind the clouds to warm us and light the way ahead.

I felt grateful for the reminder.  If we keep at things, eventually the sun will shine.

It was a good week, a busy week.  Our last soccer game has been played.  Thousands of sunflower seeds have been soaked, dried and roasted (which also means my kitchen counters are, at last, clear again).  Halloween costumes have been worn and changed over and over again.  My family room has been vacuumed more times than I wish to count.  Considering how much laundry I did this week, I’m amazed at how much more there is to do.    Piano recital songs have been memorized and practiced, errands run, projects finished.  I’m behind on many things, ahead on a few things.

And suddenly I’m also dozing off as I type.  Tomorrow is a busy day (Halloween is for all moms) so I’m going to get some sleep and re-read this in the morning to see what else I need to add or fix.  {Sorry.  I’m really tired!}

Have a great week!
Jennifer

It’s been a great week.  I took an unplanned break from blogging while my children were out of school for a couple of days.  I didn’t intend for it to happen; I ended up with a raging headache for several days and am fighting a cold.   It was enough to keep up with the children and work {a little} on my task list for the week.   Now it’s Sunday night and I don’t want Monday to come.  I want to just keep them all home with me.

I had ambitious goals for the weekend, none of which were fully accomplished.  I made the most headway in the yard, but still have far to go.  Yesterday I began planting some bulbs but only planted around 40 of them.  That may sound like a lot, but I still have a few hundred to go.  The weather is going to change drastically this week, so I’m hoping that my headache will abate and that I’ll get most of them in the ground tomorrow.  I also have an enormous pile of laundry that needs attention so we’ll see how it all shakes out.

My problem is that I love this time of year so much.  I want to do everything that involves Fall.  I want to rake leaves, I want to plant bulbs, I want to sew a fall-ish quilt.  I want to take a walk, read a book, slow down and speed up.  I want to feed my family everything I can of the harvest that is quickly disappearing, and I want to bake.   Oh, how I love fall baking!  I want to bake multiples of everything so I can deliver it to people I love.  I want to decorate for the season, cover my porch with pumpkins, start new projects, order seed catalogs for spring planting.  And I need to fit it all in around the laundry, cleaning, homework, carpools and all the other million things that already fill my days.

Do you have this problem too?  Please tell me I’m not alone.  It’s a wonderful problem to have, but sometimes I feel a little frenzied on the inside.  I tell myself I should just cut some things out, but knowing the season is so short pushes me to try anyway.

Ok, so how did I do this week?

I pulled out my Halloween supplies and found a couple of unfinished projects from past years.  I finished two of them and am almost finished with a third.  I really think I’ve improved in this area this year.  I’m becoming a better finisher.

I feel good about my efforts with the children this week.  I helped several of them with various projects and was pleased with their efforts.  They worked hard and I’m so grateful.  I feel like we’re becoming more deliberate, more intentional with the things our children are doing.  We’re getting better at planning activities that will help them grow in significant ways.   FYI, my oldest daughter spoke in Church today.  It was her first opportunity to speak in front of the entire congregation and she was very stressed.  She did a wonderful job, and later agreed to go to an assisted living home in our neighborhood and speak there too.  It makes me happy to see my children have opportunities to serve, especially in ways that make them stretch.  If nothing else had happened this week, I’d feel good based on this area alone.

I did some creative things this week and loved it.  I’m excited about a little plan my sisters and a sister-in-law have hatched.  I’ll share more later.  Tonight my nine year old joined me in the kitchen to try a new pumpkin recipe.  I loved experimenting with her.

Once more, we had some opportunities to serve this week.  I am grateful for these chances to have our family participate in helping others, and I’m also grateful for the self-discipline I’m developing as these opportunities arise, requiring a change of plans and a surrender of my own wish list.  In those moments of decision, I’m reminding myself that “God loveth a cheerful giver.”

I was tired this week, as the combination of a migraine and a cold hit within days of each other.  I had moments when I felt worn out and frustrated with the arguing and noise of the children.  In every instance I tearfully prayed for strength and found it.  I know my Heavenly Father helped me and I’m so thankful He loves me that much.  I also know that I could help myself more if I’d be more diligent about eating well.  I didn’t keep that promise to myself this week, which was silly.

My little one has grown before my very eyes this week.  I can see it in her face and body language, hear it in her vocabulary.  She is quickly growing out of toddler and into little girl and my heart aches as I watch it happen.  I could do without her adventures.  This week she built stairs for herself out of various items so she could reach the top of a tall dresser and get a large tube of super glue like adhesive, which she promptly emptied into an antique planter in my living room… with a hole in the bottom, which means she poured it on the carpet.  Hours later she threw some glass, and tonight she somehow scaled the shelves in my daughter’s closet to go through several bottles of nail polish.  Gratefully we found out about all these adventures fairly quickly and things could be fixed, but still, she’s amazing.  Seriously.  Good thing we love her SO much.  She hasn’t slept well this week, waking up crying in the early morning hours.  I admit I like bringing her to our bedroom to snuggle in my arms for a while.  She’s growing up so fast… I’ll take any form of baby I can get right now.

I think that slowly, steadily, I’m handling this crazy life of ours with more poise and calm.  I’m beginning to think that perhaps I’m finally growing into this mother of eight role I have.  {You realize that typing that probably means I’ll have some very humbling experiences this week to prove me wrong.}

I look ahead to a new week, hopeful that I’ll feel better and get a lot done.  It’s our last week of soccer and I’m ready for the break.  I have a long list of goals I wanted to accomplish in October and I’m going to give it my best effort.

I hope your week is great!
Jennifer

For the past few weeks I’ve had a steady stream of thoughts before sitting down to write this weekly post but as soon as I type the number all those ideas fly right out of my head leaving a question in their place:  Have I learned anything yet?  Have I developed useful habits yet?  I’m running out of time!

In my dream life, I would allot a certain block of time each day or week for work on all the habit’s I’m seeking.  Week after week I’d report on progress in each area and see steady improvement as the months passed.  In my real life, I allot time to work on things but then reality sweeps in and often sweeps me away.  A day’s plan can only maintain a certain amount of its intended shape in the face of needy toddlers, tantrum throwing five-year-olds, a dozen homework assignments and several hours of driving.  I’m not seeking to excuse myself, but to discover a healthy middle ground between living purposefully and responding gracefully to the insane curve balls that invariably come my way as a mother to eight children.  My whole reason for the goals in the first place is to become a better wife and mother, a better person, and the only way to really do it is in the face of daily life.  It’s just that daily life is so grueling sometimes.

So tonight I’m wondering… how am I really doing?

Do I have a great housekeeping routine in place?  No.  I still go for the Maintain and Reclaim approach much of the time, but there’s a lot that’s not getting done.  As far as all housework and personal projects go, all progress stops at 2:30 p.m. when I pick everyone up from school.  From 2:30 on, it’s downhill.  Honestly, there are days when the daytime climb doesn’t even get us back to where we started 24 hours earlier.  I have a lot I’m still envisioning but it’s not in place yet.  Miles to go….  but are we better off than we were a year ago?  I think so.

Personal health.  This one weighs heavily on me.  Have I done as well as I thought I would?  Far from it.  But I’ve made progress.  I’ve dealt with surprise challenges and feel like I’m moving the right direction.  It’s just that I’m moving so slowly.  It’s been a year now since I quit nursing my baby, and I admit I thought it would be much easier to lose weight and recover than it’s been.  Kindergarten and early morning seminary have thrown exercise out the window for now, but eating well is always an option.  I had an on and off week (again!) and I will have a great week this week.  That’s a promise to myself.

Creativity.  I pictured myself doing a lot of dabbling, trying some of this and that.  As it turns out I spend much less time in my studio than I would like, but I’m also recognizing more opportunities to be creative in my role as a mother.  For instance, tonight I tried two new recipes.  I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen but it was a creative experience and I enjoyed myself.

Service.  In this area we get flying colors this week!  I have been prayerful about service for the past couple of weeks and while I won’t list specifics here, I feel like I was guided to do specific things at specific times.  I also watched my husband and children performing acts of service that warmed my heart.

Finishing.  I’m getting better at it.  I’m also getting better at saying no to things.  I’m learning to AVOID starting things that are unnecessary.

Reading.  The past few weeks have  been so busy that I haven’t read much, but I have read four or five novels for young adults.  I try to pick them up here and there so I know what my kids are reading and can talk more with them about it.  I finished a book of my own several weeks ago and have picked up Middlemarch again.

A Soft Reply.  Last night I was so discouraged about kids and homework I wanted to cry.  I looked around and wondered how I could be working so hard and getting nowhere.  I do think that I’m being more careful, learning to laugh more easily, holding my peace more often, sincerely trying to listen and understand before seeking to be understood.  Will I ever be able to say I’ve mastered this one?  I hope so.  But while I can’t say it yet, I can say that I’m better than I was.

That discouragement last night lasted a little while.  We got the younger children in bed, got our oldest son off to his haunted house with friends, got our daughter going on her homework.  I blinked back some tears and got to work planning menus for next week.  Somehow my husband and I both relaxed and had a great night with our daughter, joined later by our son.  When the four of us were laughing like crazy around the kitchen table at midnight I thought back four hours and shook my head in wonder.  I’m glad we held on because we ended up having one of those nights when you go to bed knowing that what just happened was healthy.

The children have a couple of days without school at the end of the week and I have high hopes for them.  There is a mountain of yard work to do and I’ve got literally hundreds of bulbs to plant.  I always feel better when I get to spend time in the yard.  I need to get the yard squared away so I can turn my attention to holiday projects and other deadlines.

I am grateful I get to learn these lessons.  I’m grateful for how hard it is to manage the affairs of a family this large.  I know it will teach me important lessons and that, in the end, I’ll be a better person for it.  It is such a privilege to be a mother.  I am hopeful.  Hopeful that I’ll learn what needs learning and become the mother I long to be.

Have a great week!
Jennifer