September Evaluation

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Definitely a lot of praying this month!
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- working on getting back into this
• Memorize verses with the kids - working on this during school time
• Have extended prayer times 4 times during the year- Jim has had 3 and I have had 3
• Read Christian books (Jim- 1 (not school related), Emmie- 3)- 1 for me so far and started "Mission of Motherhood" 

Marriage

• Pray together daily- YES! 
• Go out for a date once a week- Due to a LOT of family activity this did not happen, but we did get 2 and some good time at home
• Go on a night away once this year- Yes! We were able to get away for 2 whole days for our Anniversary! Big thanks to Becca, Shannon, Julianne, Victor and Ariana who made this possible for us! It was wonderful
• Read 3 books together this year (read one day a week)- Crossing this off because it's not going to happen. Maybe next year when we're forced to for School of Missions
• Discuss plan weekly on Saturday afternoon- Did not happen 

Kids

• Spend 15 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- Got closer to that at the end of the month, still working on good time management with kids
• Special Outing Alone twice during the year with each child- Reuben got a date with Daddy!
• Family fun activity once a month- Playing the Dance Game as a family.We had a lot of fun!
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- No writing this month, but I am mostly caught up
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- Got things moved around and organized a little better so I might actually get some work done on this before the end of the year!

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Honestly we need to make a NEW schedule
• Keep up with my calendar- A little better this month, but have a long way to go
• Being fully present when with my family- Still struggling, but getting better as we get more normalized
• Try 12 new recipes this year- (9) Jim made a delicious blueberry pound cake with blueberry drizzle for Reuben's birthday! So GOOD! I have a great cook and baker for a hubby!
• No TV 2 days a week (watching)- We actually accomplished this a couple times this month! With school work to do we're getting back into a good reading and activity routine. Still have work to do in this area but it's getting easier.
• Begin gardening in the spring- Another that just did not happen and isn't going to, but that's OK!

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- I finished "The Purloined Letter" this month and made a significant dint in "Don Quixote"
• Jim read one fiction book- Yes! He finished "Eragon", Eldest", and "Brisingr"
• Journal 5 days a week- Not this month, but slowly getting there again
• Jim Journal 3 days a week- Yes
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing- No work on this
• Book Club once a month- Yes! Thankful I was able to attend the last at Bre's house
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- I fell down on  meeting this month again! Sad that it happened, but hopefully in October
• Blog 1-2 days a week- Yes! 

Health

• Mild Exercise twice a week- Nope, hope to get back into this this month
• Maintain weight until birth- This did not happen, so I have extra work to do now
• Lose weight after giving birth- Have lost a little, but stagnated right now. Hopefully with getting to 6 weeks postpartum I can start to exercise and it will help

September was a blur! Adjusting to a new baby, celebrating Reuben's birthday, Becca getting married and moving out, Jim starting back to work, starting school with the kids and trying to find the new normal for our family has kept us busy. It's been nice finding time to read more and watching TV less as well as learning to talk more with Jim and the kids. I feel like we have grown a lot this month as a family. There is still a lot to figure out and we'll never stop learning, but in the last couple of days it seems like there might be a light for this season. The next couple of months are going to be very busy as well, but hopefully we'll find peace in Jesus and a hint of stability as we seek to do those things God has called us to at this time.

How was your September?