April Goals - Leslie

I apologize in advance for the more short and to the point post.  A is running a fever today and is very clingy, so I am writing one-handed with a whiny toddler on my lap.  My April goals are pretty typical for this time of year, what with the start of spring and all.  My strategy to accomplish these goals is to take out a big chunk this week since school (and work) is out on spring break.  That way I won't have to worry about getting the time consuming things done on weekends or try to fit them in on work days.  Now... we'll just see if that's what actually happens.

Goal #1 - Spring Cleaning
This place is a mess.  There is stuff EVERYWHERE.  It's time to go through and purge, clean, and organize.  That will be the project for the majority of my spring break.  I just can't stand all the clutter anymore.  Here is a rough schedule of things I'd like to accomplish:

Sunday 3/31 - Bathroom, kitchen, and laundry.
Monday 4/1 - Living Room and dining room.
Tuesday 4/2 - Bedroom and laundry.
Wednesday 4/3 - Deep clean and organize front of apt.
Thursday 4/4 - Deep clean and organize back of apt.
Friday 4/5 - Haul stuff to Goodwill.

Goal #2 - Health
I want to start eating better, as I'm sure most people do.  However, I'm really trying to give it a good shot and not just give up entirely if I mess up once.  My goal for April is to be mindful of what I'm putting inside my body.  I also want to start exercising.  I don't do anything more than just my day to day activity and I know that has to change.  I will take advantage of the sunshine and just walk or take A to the playground and run around with her.  I want to do something more than what I am without trying to push myself too far too fast.

Goal #3 - Family Time/Personal Time
Hopefully by getting the major cleaning tasks done this week, I can free up some much needed family time for the rest of the month.  I'm hoping that all I will have to worry about with cleaning is just maintaining, rather than starting from a super mess.  I would love to be able to sit down and read a book more often, or play with Addie, or go outside and not have to worry about the dishes that need to be washed or the mountain of laundry waiting for me. 

Goal #4 - A Activities
I want to find more things to do with A.  It's getting warmer and thus I think there will be more available to choose from.  I would love to find something we can afford to get her involved with as well, whether it's dance, an art class, a music class, a sport, or just a playgroup.  I want her to be more involved with other kids her age starting now since we are planning to homeschool.  I want her to be able to form those bonds of friendship with others.  We go to the local library toddler time every week, but she is shy and slowly starting to be more comfortable there.  I would like for her to do something else as well, if we could.

Goal #5 - Save Money
A major goal for me, and not just in April.  We've had some difficulty getting adjusted lately, but I want to start putting away some green to use in emergencies or for vacations.  S'yeah.

Those are my goals for April and hopefully I can check at least some, if not all, off the list.  Wish me luck!

If you have any topic suggestions please feel free to send them our way!  thecaseofthemissingcheerios@gmail.com

Personal Goals of April and Jazz~priddymomma

Oddly, my monthly goals are quite similar to Tori’s!  I guess maybe that isn’t so strange.  Spring is in the air, so it’s only natural to begin spring cleaning.  And then there’s the whole we’re-both-moms thing.  Also, “great minds think alike” and all that jazz.  (Oh, the conceit!)

First and foremost in my mind is getting ready for Easter.  We’re hosting an Easter brunch this year with my parents, hubby’s parents, my grandparents, and my brother and his girlfriend.  And (the wonder!) the four people that actually live in my house will be there too.  Ugh.  Just mentioning it causes me to start an internal dialogue about how many chairs I need, which room I should clean first, blah blah blah.  Then I also need to get a couple more things for the kids’ baskets, dye Easter eggs (which, because I’m difficult, are going to be done with natural dyes *sigh*), AND figure out who is making what foods and what we’re actually eating!  You know what?  Jesus knows my house is usually a mess…it’s just my in-laws that aren’t in on that secret.  I need to quit with all this stress. (And then I saw a flying pig!  I did!)

Told you I saw him

After Easter (because I like to stress out and die early in life), we’re planning a combined birthday celebration for our kiddos.  Cheerio Champ turned five this week, and Princess Cheerio turns one the first week of April.  The theme is going to be bugs.  Each kid is going to get bug themed loot.  Naturally, there will be cake.  With bugs.  And in my infinite wisdom, I decided to make a smash cake for both my kids.  So I have 48 cupcakes and two smash cakes to bake, in addition to making dirt pudding (a must for a bug theme), snack bags, planning the menu (mostly crock-pot things), and purchasing decorations.  Don’t forget!  I also have to remember/stress over all the things I’ve forgotten!

We’re finally getting family photos taken!  We’ve been a family of four for a year now.  There aren’t any photos with all of us in them (to my knowledge.  Creepy stalker people not included).  That’s partly because I take the photos around here, and ,mostly because I was so uncomfortable with my weight and/or what I was capable of fitting into clothes-wise that I avoided the camera like the plague.  There’s a photo place in a nearby town that prints your photos the same day, so we decided to go there.  They do smash cake photos too!  I can’t tell you how happy I am about that!  I was going to do a set up for Princess Cheerio with a shower curtain liner at her party, but now I don’t have to let her get nearly as messy at the party proper.  The downside is I now have to make yet ANOTHER cake for the photo that will take place between Easter and the birthday party!  I should mention that I never bake cakes.  Ever.

I also plan to do some crafting/sewing in April.  First up is a tutu for Princess Cheerio.  I had planned to make her one for the party, and I thought she’d look adorable in the tutu with cake all over her.  Now, as we’re doing the smash cake at the photo place, I don’t know what she’s wearing!  The tutu I bought tulle for matched the party colors and was part of the planned outfit for the day.  I think I’m making yet another tutu in some other color for the smash cake photo.  I’m out of my mind. 

Earth Day is coming up April 22^nd.  I’m hoping to find some way to celebrate Earth Day this year.  We usually go to a combined Arbor Day/Earth Day celebration at a local park, which I’m hoping falls at a time hubby isn’t working.  They give away free trees, which we have planted in past years.  This year though, we don’t have a yard big enough for one.  How sad is that?  Maybe my folks want another tree?

I’ve been overhauling our family diet.  We don’t eat a lot of overtly unhealthy foods, but we eat a lot of processed foods.  Most of it comes in the form of snack foods.  I decided to add more fruits and vegetables these past few weeks, and it has helped us to feel tremendously better.  I’m still struggling to get Cheerio Champ to put down anything at all that is green.  My April goal is to make sure we each get a serving of fruit and a vegetable serving with each meal.  If we don’t get one or the other with a meal, we make up for that by having it as a snack.  And then there is one additional serving each of fruits and vegetables for a snack during the day.  It has definitely cost me more in produce (but less in pantry items!), and I have to go to the store every week when I prefer to be an every-couple-weeks kind of gal, but it’s worth it.

I regularly do yoga with Cheerio Champ.  I would like to start doing some walking or strength training in April in addition to the yoga.  I have seven more pounds to lose before I’m at my goal weight, but I’m not in nearly the shape I’d like to be.  I can’t walk for twenty minutes at a brisk pace without being exhausted.  That just isn’t acceptable.  I have two kiddos I have to keep up with, so I want to be in the best shape I possibly can.

Sort of related to that is a self-defense related goal of mine.  It is my career goal to become a self-defense instructor.  I would like to regularly begin training in aikido next month.  I’m sort of toying around with it here and there at the moment, but I’d like to dedicate a certain block of time to it several days a week.  I also plan to read another self-defense book this coming month.

I have to do some shopping in April.  Christmas shopping.  Feel free to slap me with a fish.  Actually, don’t do that.  And I don’t know why I said that.  It’s early, okay??  But as I say, I need to start Christmas shopping.  Every year, I tell myself I won’t wait until the last minute.  Every year I lie profusely and am still shopping for someone and/or something a few days before Yule.  This year I mean it!  I have one Christmas gift already purchased!  ONE!!  That’s one more than this time last year!  I’d like to be done with it come November.  Then I can just sit back and laugh at all of you/get insanely busy with crafts and other Christmas-y things I feel I have to do.

I owe $43 on a hospital bill for when Princess Cheerio was born nearly a year ago!  I’m almost paid off!  I plan to pay that off in April, and almost completely pay off my final student loan from my big whopping one year of college.  I’ll actually finish paying that off in May.  And then on to the large chunk of student loans we owe from hubby’s schooling.  Yay?

Story of my life.  :(

The final thing is to buy a house.  Well, that’s not accurate.  The final thing is to talk about the prospects of buying a house.  That’s completely different.  I think hubby and I are going to go to a home-buying seminar and read some books/do other research and check out our credit report.  We’ve wanted to get started on this process for several months, but I told hubby I’d like to wait until all the party stress was out of the way before we discussed anything more stressful (see?  I can be wise on occasion).  It’ll be at least three years before we’re ready to buy I believe.  But what do I know?  Not enough.  That’s why there’s research to be done!

Looking back on this post, I’m convinced that I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.  But it is what it is.  I’ll make it through April.  I always do.  What are some of your goals for this coming month?  Any advice on home buying?  Check back Saturday for Leslie’s post, and naturally we’ll have a new topic next week!