#23, #84 and #95

I have a few more things checked off of my 101 Goals in 1001 Days list and they're big ones for me!

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#23 - Keep the desk clutter-free for 1 month - I am not a fan of clutter, but our desk in the office is so spacious that it naturally collects stuff. Plus, it's right at the top of the stairs, so it becomes a dumping ground for all of the things that need to find a home upstairs. Keeping my desk clutter-free for over two months (I just haven't blogged about it) has been such a freeing feeling! I hope I can keep it up.

#84 - Go a whole week without raising my voice to the kids, not once - I DID IT! I actually decided to keep track and grade myself at the end of every day. If I didn't raise my voice at all, A+. Once: A, Twice: A-, you get the idea. If I even snapped at the kids, I docked myself for it. After the first day I started tracking (June 29th - I got an F that day!) I had plenty of B's at first, then some A-'s and for the last 7 days, all A+s! I really attribute this to creating a Family Mission Statement and posting our House Rules on the fridge. Part of our mission is to have a peaceful, kind, joy-filled home and that's hard to sustain when there's yelling going on. So I've reminded myself of that every day, choosing to speak closely and quietly to my kids, forcing them to tune in and pay attention. I'm sick of only getting their attention when they know I'm upset - I'm done! And I will continue to grade myself every day to keep accountable to this higher standard.

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#95 - Do a devotional with the kids every day for 2 weeks - This may have also helped with #84 above. Each and every morning for the last two weeks (and every other day or so for a few weeks before that) we've done a Bible lesson at breakfast. Our church sends home 4 daily devotionals for the Kindergarteners, so that helps give us some structure, but for the other 3 days, I've had to get creative and expand on the lessons Ryan's learning in Sunday school. This month's virtue is Forgiveness and his memory verse (that both kids now know by heart...and so do I) is Colossians 3:13 - "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Spending this time each day discussing the Bible and how it applies to our lives has been an awesome experience so far. The kids love learning and I love pulling examples from our days into the lesson to show the connection. I highly recommend doing this...even if your kids are little like mine! I never would have thought we would all get so much out of this time together.