Both of the boys started basketball practice this week and will continue that for the next 3 months. But for the first time, they both have practice on the SAME night in the SAME place AND it's 2 minutes from our house at their school. I cannot complain much about that one!
Ethan also switched baseball teams this year, and his new team began practice last night. The prospect of that schedule lasting until July makes me a little weary, but I'm excited for what he is going to learn and the friends he is going to make with this new team. However, it happens to be the same night as my women's Bible study at church so I'm not able to finish that with the group of ladies I started with. Very disappointed about that. But that's okay.
So with these on top of other responsibilities and upcoming events, we have been a little bit busier this week.
And, of course, it's the beginning of the year. I like to think of this as my semi-annual kickstart to organizing and cleaning the house. It pretty much happens twice a year - January and August, when school starts up again and we get back into a routine after summer. So I've been trying to sort, purge, declutter and find new homes for lots of things - I want it all done NOW, but I know it's a process so I've been planning my weeks ahead with little projects. I'm a little obsessive with organizing like that.
But, anyway, the busyness of this week reminded me of two things I have been wanting to write about that have helped me a little in the juggling act and making things a little easier.
The first is a book a read a little over 2 years ago :
It's been a while since I've read it, so I can't remember exactly all I liked about it. But it did make me see so much more clearly that it really was okay to say "no" when someone asked if I would help with something or take care of something, if I really didn't have the time or it meant giving up something else important to me. I would often feel guilty for saying that I couldn't help with a ministry or task, because I felt like I was letting others down and ultimately not living up to what God's purpose was for me in this life. I feel like I've realized now that saying "yes" to things that I should've been saying "no" to did not really benefit anyone. I still love to help with all kinds of things - at church, home, school, etc. I just feel like now I feel better about the reasons I do all of them. It's not perfect, but I feel like God put this book in my hands at just the right time in my life and then led me through a series of events in which He showed me how to be more purposeful in what I take on and commit to. So that has led to a better balance of individual commitments with home and family time at our house, along with a not-so-frazzled-feeling mom, which is always a good thing :)
The second thing I've been wanting to share is this app:
I'm sure that I first saw this on a blog that I was reading when I was trying to learn Lightroom last year. It's like an electronic journal or diary, so if you want to remember something funny your kids say or something nice someone did for you, or just that it snowed 6 inches that day, then you can just write it in this app and then access it anytime.
This is especially appealing to me because I so desperately want to remember my kids' childhood - the little things about it - things they say, funny ways they do things, along with big things like scoring for the first time at their baseball game or winning the spelling bee. AND, I love it because it's great for scrapbooking (when I ever get a chance to do that). I can scroll through and see what stories I want to include in their books.
I think the best part about this is that it integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and probably whatever other social media you use. So anytime I post a status on Facebook or post a picture to Instagram it gets pushed to the Momento app when I open it the next time. And it's all arranged chronologically. You can tag people, places, events, etc.
I know I don't use this enough, but I really do love it and it saves me a lot of time when I want to remember something or when I try to recall it later. I always have my phone with me so I can always add a snippet anytime, anywhere.
And maybe I have one more thing that has been useful to me to get through the busyness
This is an approach that I've been using for the past few years to document our lives through all the pictures we take and stories that I want to remember. I'm still behind, but I don't feel the need to be so creative every time I want to do a page for one of our scrapbooks. It gives me the freedom to just print pictures and slip them into a page protector along with some journaling cards - it's quick and easy and DONE!
I am still working on last year. I think most people that do this do it weekly and some even do a photo a day. I did that one year and love it, but a photo a day was too much for me. Weekly documenting has seemed too overwhelming in the past as well, so I've just been doing monthly documenting. I like how I don't feel too rushed about it, and when I do make the effort to catch up it doesn't take long at all to do that. And even if I never do get around to adding anything more to the boys' albums, they will at least have what we recorded in our family Project Life albums.
I have been using the Cherry Edition for the past few years.
I'm getting kind of bored with it now. It has lasted me so long because it's designed to be used weekly, not monthly, so I've gotten at least 3 years out of it.
And this is the Clementine Edition.
I bought it last year to use in the book I plan to create to chronicle our cancer journey. Yet I still haven't started that. Another project on my list.
And my favorite new one, that just became available within the last few days,
the Seafoam Edition
I'm planning to use this one for this year. It has more of a boyish tone to it I think, and since my house consists mainly of boys.....
Being I'm being a little brave this year, getting out of my routine, and planning to do the weekly photos. I plan to go back to monthly next year, but I was remembering how much I liked the photo a day thing a few years ago. It really made me appreciate the little everyday things in our family, and that's what I really want to remember - they are the most special to me. So I'm changing it up this year, but not putting the pressure on myself to get a photo for each day - just an overview of the week.
I'm also planning to do everything digitally this year. So this is actually the edition I will be using:
Not sure if I'll get tired of using the same papers, cards, etc. over the year. I may decide to do a different set for each month. I don't know. I just like the ease and flexibility. And then at the end I can either print scrapbook pages or bind it all into a hardcover book.
Anyway, didn't mean to get into all of that. It's late and I guess it's my way of rambling. I'm excited for the busyness and the challenges and blessings that it brings. Looking forward to this new year!
