Things Have Been Nuts

Kregg helping the two youngest take the online portion of their hunter's safety training.

Blogging has been pushed to the back of the stove here lately. There's just been no time. As you know, some big changes have taken place in the Antbed, the biggest one being Caleb moving away for college. Between getting Caleb settled in to college, a trip with our youth from church, a family reunion and scouting trips for a new deer lease, we have kept the road hot. Okay, it was already hot. It's just a figure of speech.


Our homeschool began a new season with a new schedule and new challenges. We are part of the shepherding team at church and haven't been as in touch as we should have with our little "sheeples" this summer, so that has to change. Now! 


A big addition to our weekly calendar of commitments is being considered for one of our little chickadees. It has to do with an orange ball and a little hoop. 


We have also joined the "Life Guard" team to help teach and encourage the youth at church. Because that meets on Sunday night, our small group Bible study that usually meets at our house at that time is going to have to be rescheduled. Which then causes two other Bible study groups we are involved with to be affected. We haven't exactly figured all of that out yet. 


Then there's the prayer ministry that has been running all summer and finishes up this month with Saturdays being "my day." 


There are many projects in the works around here. Always.


Oh yes, then there's the Tabernacle Experience which comes to our church at the end of this month. I am the project coordinator for that. 

Over the weekend, Jeremiah, Hannah, and Samuel flew into town so we could celebrate Hannah's birthday. Kregg decided to cook for the occasion. Which meant buying 5 briskets, sausage, pork loins, and ribs and borrowing the big grilling trailer from the office. 

We made a quick trip, 150 miles each way, Monday night to take Caleb to dinner. He couldn't come home, too much reading to do, and so we just decided we'd waited long enough to hug that scruffy neck.


I always preach about being over committed: "Don't do it!" I often say, and yet here I am. It's time to finish some things up and not add anything else to the list, right? So if the Antbed looks a little more frenetic than normal, now you know why. And if I don't make it to all the normal little corners of this blogging world that I try to visit, it is NOT because I don't love you. :)

Cozi Calendar

                  
A sweet friend told me about a wonderful tool. I think I am in love! And it's FREE! Yipee! It's called Cozi calendar and it's an online organizational system you can use for your families activities. I don't know how many times our big kids have said that they didn't know we had this event planned or that event planned. They are in and out so much, they never got the memo. With this calendar, any of our family can go online from their computers or their phones to check our family schedule or add an event. 

Features I am learning to love:

• Each family member has a different color code
• You can enter recurring events and set the cycle of the repetition
• You can print out a calendar for the entire family
• Or you can print one out for each family member with just their events
• You can set up a reminder so that a specific person receives a text or email ahead of the appointment
• There is an shopping list so that you can access it from your phone while you are at the store
• I never have to enter birthdays and anniversaries again!
• It has a journal function where you can keep an online family photo album and journal
• It has a "to do" list
• If you use Outlook, it will sync with that program 

 I have kept a little date book in my purse for years that I kept up with all our "stuff". That was great for me, but anytime anyone needed to know something, I had to check for them. This way, I can have a reminder text sent an hour before one of the big kids need to be at the dentist. Once I put it on the calendar, then I don't really have to think about that event again. This is going to make me more efficient. And that is always a good thing!


Here's the link, and here's my disclaimer again: these people have no idea who I am and I get absolutely nothing by telling you that I think this is a great idea!

"A Love Calendar" for the First Two Weeks of February

Image Courtesy of the Vintage Moth

Leslie at Top of the Page just posted a wonderful idea for a calendar to celebrate the first two weeks of February. I love it when someone shares their ideas while you still have enough time to copy them! :)

She has made an adorable advent-type calendar that she uses. Every person in her family has a little pocket for each of the first 14 days of February. Every member of the family leaves every other family member a love note for each day. And she emphasizes that the focus of these notes is to be something you appreciate about that person, a character quality that you see.

2011 is, for me, the year of Spoken Blessings and for Being (as in "all there", 100% present in each moment). So this is the perfect way to spend the first two weeks of February on the Conderosa.

Just thought you might enjoy this idea, too!