A Thoughtful Monday...

...or maybe "Mind-Scrambled Monday" would be a better title?

My Sunday afternoon planning time was pre-empted this week by the need to cook for a "send-off fellowship" at church for a friend who is being deployed soon, and between that and the fact that my mind is going in a million directions about other things this morning, I'm afraid this week's plans are going to be a bit thrown together. I'm hoping to get my *thoughtful thoughts* together by this evening and have a chance to post some of them tonight, as today is a notable anniversary at our house. You'll have to come back later for more details, but I'll give you a hint...the youngest member of our family has a birthday in three days! ;-)

So...here are the plans for the week, such as they are:

Bible Study/Child Training:

* Continue chronological study and study on suffering.
* Continue reading Part 1 of Parenting of Champions. This is such a great book so far, but it's been slow going so far, and I need to pick up the pace. I hope to post some thoughts about it soon.
* Due to the end of our week going a bit haywire, and having out of town company, I'm still working on having "chunks" of one-on-one just-for-fun time with each child. We'll work on that again this week.
* Work on new TeamKid verses daily with the kids.

Home Blessing

The good news is that we got a good start on having the dining room ready to start priming last week. We cleaned out, reorganized, moved furniture, and pulled remaining wallpaper off about 2/3 of the room before the week went crazy and we never got back to it. Obviously the bad news is, we didn't get it completely ready to prime by the weekend as I had planned. However, we ended up being gone most of the weekend anyway, so it wasn't a huge loss.

So....this week's plan involves *finishing* the last corner of the dining room to be ready to start priming. And deep cleaning in the kitchen and bathroom.

This is also a bulk cooking week here. I hope to get my plan up in the next day or two...although the plan may not get posted until *after* the cooking is actually done. :)

Must Dos/Procrastination Busters:

1. Email photos to Uncle Ken and Cousin Linda from weekend.
2. Class prep for co-op.
3. Follow-up emails/sign up list for Chick-Fil-A Field trip.
4. Finalize plans for Ammah Grace's birthday. (Yes, I'm running a bit behind here, but since at her age, we mainly celebrate as a family, we're still okay. :))
5. Planning for Valentine's Day and Science Fair projects.

Creative Pursuits

I managed about 50% of what I had planned here for last week. I decided on the projects we are going to do in our co-op bookmaking class, but didn't get the samples finished I wanted to have ready by Thursday. I did get school pictures taken, and our yearbook page and two others done, which has me primed and ready now to get back in the scrapbooking groove. I didn't get any work done on the *stealth projects*, but they are still on the list.

The big news in this area at the moment (big news for *me* at least;-)), is that after a break of several years, it is time to get serious about getting my custom scrapbooking business going again. (More about that later...:))

Here are the creative plans for the week:
1. Re-organize scrapbook supplies (as part of dining room prep work).
2. Finalize plans with friends for a scrapbook day at church later this month.
3. Preliminary planning re business.
4. Keep trying on the *stealth project* list. :)
5. Decorate for Ammah Grace's birthday. (Birthday banner?)

I also have projects in the works for a couple of friends on which I hope to get some work done this week.

Menu Plan Monday:

* Frito Chili Pie and salad.
* Breakfast for supper (french toast and sausage)
* Hamburger Steaks and Cheesy Cream Cheese Potatoes
* Chicken and Dumplings
* Italian Pasta Salad

Check in at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu plan ideas. For more Monday Meanderings, visit Tiany at Less of Me, More of Him.