Itching for Spring! (My trip to Lowe's)

One of the many things I did this past week was make a trip to Lowe's to browse the garden goodies and also get some paint samples for baby boy's room and get some materials for a shelving project.

Even though it is still February (and was below freezing this morning!) I am already anxious to get my Spring garden planted. Last year was my first year with my vegetable garden and it was a lot of fun and was successful for the most part! In Texas (Zone 8) we can start earlier than many other states but still have to wait until the last frost. I'm hoping to have everything planted by the end of March, first of April before this baby arrives!!!

I still have a little work to do to prepare the beds. I need to turn the soil and add a top layer of compost to it. This weekend it was way too cold for that so I am hoping one day this week to get that accomplished. Many of the root vegetables can be planted now as seeds, like carrots and also potatoes, along with onions, lettuce, spinach. My sweet neighbor gave me several of her potato roots and leftover carrot and beet seeds to get started. I can't wait to plant them!! In a few weeks I can plan out the rest of my garden and what I want to plant when, based on their growing season. More on a separate post!

Of course I had to bring something home to get my Spring Fever fix, so I bought this little Begonia plant to brighten up my kitchen island until the weather warms up. Isn't she cute?

I also could not pass up these fun little seed starter kits for the girls. One is sunflowers and the other one is for watermelon. I have never grown either of these before so I'm curious to see how they do. It will take about 7 days to germinate. Once they sprout we can plant them in the garden.

They were so excited to help place the seeds in and water them. Goofy picture-Callie was saying "cheese" very enthusiastically!

Now Keira has been checking on hers every day, patiently waiting to see the first signs of green life peeking out. It is so fun to watch them and see how they are learning how plants grow and what they need to survive.

After our garden purchase I picked up several paint samples for baby boy's room and also some wood for a shelving project for his room. I found this easy project from Knock Off Decor that I can't wait to try! I will keep you posted!

My Plans & Goals for 2012

I've been planning to write this post all month, and as you can see, I am barely squeezing it in at month's end! I typically love the New Year and all of the hope and promise it brings. Promise for new things, changes, adventures. I have set "resolutions" or at least had ideas of what things I wanted to do different each year, some which happened and many which did not. I can contribute most of this to not having a written goal and plan in place for what I hope to change. I have been inspired by many in the blogosphere whom I read regularly to sit down and write out a plan, a map of change for myself and family this year. And I think I'm entering the "nesting" phase of pregnancy where I want to totally overhaul all parts of my life. I know I have to be realistic here and that I can't accomplish everything. But I will get much further with a PLAN!

I chose specific areas of my life I want to improve upon and set goals accordingly. With the New Year already in full swing, I have already set to work on some of these goals. Here is what I have so far that I hope to work towards and accomplish in 2012.

Parenting
Plan for weekly one on one time with each child either for an outing, a special activity or "date".
Read 3-4 Parenting books & implement changes when necessary.
Continue daily reading with each child.
Continue daily Children's Bible reading.
Callie-Work on Alphabet and Color recognition.
Take children to Sea World before baby arrives. Planning on it Spring Break!
Put together a rough Summer schedule to keep us all happy & sane with all 3 kids being at home!
Keira-Put together a chores chart and assign allowance for certain responsibilites.

Marriage
Pray for my husband daily.
Have date night once per month.
Take 2 overnight trips (1-2 nights), one before baby and one after.
Read "Power of a Praying Wife".
Read "The Five Love Languages" together.
Remember the little things to make his day easier- making his lunch, taking dry cleaning, ask about his needs.
Plan our 10 yr anniversary trip (August 2013).

Personal Growth
Read the Bible in one year following the Chronological Plan. I've attempted many times, maybe this will be the year!
Read 12 books this year as part of my Book Club with friends. Each book is chosen monthly. I already read our Jan book and got my February book at the library today!
Read all of the books on my 2012 book list (Will post this soon!)
Continue with Pregnancy yoga and/or walking 3 times per week.
Get back in shape after the baby arrives in April!
-Work out 3-4 times per week after doctor clearance.
-Begin walking after week one.
-Try the Tracy Anderson method
Stick to a consistent bed time and wake up time. Bed by 10-10:30pm!
Wake up before the kids daily to work out or get 30 min quiet time and reading.
Learn to use my sewing machine. Take 3 sewing classes. Do 3-4 projects on my own.
Organize my photos from my phone, computer, online accounts and print or archive all photos. Put birthday photos and other special events into albums.
Continue Beth Moore study of "James" this winter and attend new one in Fall.

Financial
Committ to tithing 10 % to our church.
Continue campaign promise for new school on church campus.
Pay off any outstanding debts.
Start using cash only envelopes again-we did this in 2010 it worked great.
Start saving for our 10 yr anniversary trip (August 2013).
Plan & save for Disney vacation with the kids for Fall 2012 or 2013.
Increase 401k/IRA contributions.
Open Roth IRA.
Open 529 college accounts for the girls.
Continue to seek part time income streams.

Mom groups/Church/Jr League/Volunteerism
Begin attending Sunday school class for married couples.
Volunteer once per month in children's classes at church.
Fulfill Jr League volunteer responsibilities.
Host bi-monthly playdates.

Homekeeping
Continue with weekly meal planning.
Implement a weekly & monthly cleaning schedule.
Keep up with the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home Challenge.
Manage weekly paper influx from school, mom groups, church. No pile-ups!
Begin the switch to more whole wheat, natural sugars etc in recipes.
Experiment with new recipes weekly.
Organize recipes and create Recipe Binder.
Plan and prepare for Organic Spring garden. Goal is to have garden planted by April 1st!!!!
Plant 2-3 trees.
Landscape front flower beds.
Liven up the house & improve air quality by bringing in 2-3 live plants into the home.

Business/Blogging
Keep up to date on all monthly billing/invoices and accounting.
Begin monthly status reports.
Set up specific office hours/days.
Create a weekly blogging plan.
Write 3-4 posts per week.
Do at least one series post.
Find a new blog design.
Switch blogging hosts.

Whew! What a list! In addition, I have several home projects I hope to work on this year. Many of them I want to have completed before baby boy arrives, as I know my time and sleep will be limited for a while! I'm working on this project list now and hope to have it complete soon!

In order to accomplish many of these goals for the year, I have to have monthly goals that help me reach the end goal. Since this will be on going, I hope this blog will help to keep me accountable and I will post updates on how I'm doing!

Okay now, off to bed before I miss my "go to bed on time" consistently goal!

Looking Forward to 2012

Today was a beautiful last day of 2011. It was sunny and 74 degrees!! Not at all like the chilly weather we've had but it was a welcome change. I made sure to get out and enjoy the sunshine a little and took a walk around the neighborhood. It won't last long though, it's supposed to be only in the 50's tomorrow!

I spent the day doing various things, restocking our fridge and pantry for one. We had nothing after being on vacation! We started taking down the tree decorations and then I did some general planning for the upcoming months.

I had hoped to post more today about some goals I have for 2012 but I haven't quite gotten them all down on paper. I promise this week I will post those! I really hope that blogging about my 2012 goals will help me stay accountable and get them accomplished. I've been inspired lately by several bloggers on the web to tackle some projects I've been putting off, on top of preparing for this baby!! I definitely have my work cut out for me and it will be a very busy next few months!!

I can't wait to dive right in and see what 2012 has in store for me!