Living with intentionality and an update on my goals.

This last weekend, we completed our second successful road trip!  We've taken others with the littles, but the travel time was not so ...."successful". Our magic button this time was the DVD player gifted to us by friends, that kept them calm for our 6 hours in the car Saturday.  My husband and I actually got to.....(gasp) talk!  This gives hope for future road trips. :-)  

One of the things we discussed is how our baby will soon be too big for her bassinet, and need to move in with her siblings. How can my baby be this big already? I wish the house would just clean itself so I could snuggle the littles all day everyday as they grow way too fast!

The problem with her growing so fast is we currently don't have room for another bed. We have two small rooms for the two kiddos which also function as the office and nursery. So some creative arraigning and downsizing must happen within a month or two. Eeek! This is definitely my area to grow in! I'm not good at letting go of things. It also means I must be focused with how I spend time, as daily life must be juggled with preparing for this next stage. 

I love this verse from our Bible study this week 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." A sound mind refers to a secure, sound, disciplined, calm, self-controlled, prioritized mind. Definitely what I need with these littles and preparing for each stage of their development!  Did you also notice that it says "God has not given us a spirit of fear"? Remember, my word this year is courage, courage to act or speak what is right without fear of approval. I 'waded into the waters' with speaking at our last mom's group, and next week I'll take another step as I share the devotional to start our meeting. I'm excited and nervous this group is still new to me.  God is so faithful to bless those steps when we obey. Last week at our co-op, I got to pray with a mama who was doing some medical testing the next day.  Life is too short to live quietly, without making deep connections with those around us. 

Here's an update on my goals this year:

1. Read 12 books this year (honestly if I can make it to 10, I’ll consider it a win)

Update: I finished Cozy Minimalist Home and Peter Pan. 

I’m currently reading Sacred Holidays by Becky Kiser.  It definitely makes you think about holiday expectations, and living intentionally and with grace. I need to read faster though! There's three books in route to me that I couldn't resist!

2. Explore the alphabet with my preschooler: our “preschool” takes different forms through the seasons. Sometimes we do letters, but through the holiday season we’ve read a ton of books.  

Update: We've been working through our letters with practice sheets, videos and games. Today we were working on letter I. 

3. Identify 5 plants/tracks: I think it would be amazing to be able to go on our nature hikes and …..gasp….name what I’m looking at. But, alas! I have no idea. So I ordered this book based on a recommendation from a friend.

Update: Now, the trick to being able to identify things is… I have to read the books. (sigh, there’s never enough time to read all the books I want) Hopefully this summer I can practice identifying plants/animal prints.

4. Get rid of 50 things: 

Update: I have a box in my closet where I stick things to donate.  It has a couple items in there. 

5. Learn to make more things from scratch.

Update: So far I’m learned to make yogurt, bread in the dutch oven, homemade cream of chicken soup, and my husband has made pretzels.  I’ll have to share those photos in another post.

6. Prepare for secret project

7. Blog/writing (I have ideas…but life seems to take all my time)

Update: At least I'm writing each week...mostly. It definitely is life giving to be able to write. 

8. Finish 2nd kids baby book and do the 3rd kid’s book

9. Clean out freezer and use up pantry (you know all those unmarked surprise dishes you find in the back of your freezer? yah….)

Update: I've been using up containers from the freezer, and tossed some things out today.  My husband has been watching YouTube videos of a British chef which has inspired us to be more creative with our meal plans. 

10. Do 10 projects with the little ones. 

Update: We haven't done anything big yet, besides our 'school time", nature journals, and birthday/Valentines day cards. 

How about you?  Where have you used courage lately?  Have you made progress on a goal? I'd love to hear! Please comment below!

Sojourning together,

Felicia