October Rewind and November Goals

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Two of my current favorite blogs: Morning Motivated Mom and Our Little Apartment are really big on goal setting. They recap the previous month and set goals for the upcoming month.  I have really been motivated by the goal-setting mindset.
When I worked we had several trainings on goal settings and one recurring principle for goal-setting is they must be SMART.  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.  Not only is this theory helpful in the work place, it's helpful in every aspect of life.
My goal is to set monthly goals ;) Hopefully putting them out in bogland will help with accountability. My plan is to break my goals down in to Home, Health, Family, and Home school. These are the main areas of my life and if I can set attainable, realistic goals for these areas, it will have an impact on the pace of our days as well as my sense of accomplishment. I'm excited about this journey.

With that being said, My October Rewind is a freebie, since I had not started this goal setting plan. Therefore, I get to just take a moment and think back to the memories made during my very favorite month of the year!
The kids and I had several adventures in October. Erik did too - including his first TDY. The girls and I went apple picking on a farm in Maryland.  The day was gorgeous and the apples were yummy.
 We discovered that George is a huge fan of cinnamon apples.  Since he is an infant, I simply peeled and diced the apples added a little water, sprinkled with cinnamon and baked at 350 for about 30 min.  When they came out, I added more cinnamon if needed, let them cool and he lapped them up! This is a pic of his cinnamon face:

He's actually eating a banana in this pic after he had finished the apples, you can see the cinnamon EVERYWHERE!

We also visited a place called Pumpkinville at the Leesburg Animal Farm.  It was a fun day filled with feeding ducks, hayrides, slides and zip-lines.  However, the girls and I were looking for a pumpkin patch, and this was not one.  We left tired from lots of fun but a little disappointed.

 I think next year we will try this one.  I've heard great things about it. I also had a little mommy mind lapse when I dressed my kids up in their Halloween best and too them to the local zoo-boo... which didn't happen until the following weekend #motheroftheyear. 

The kids started making some friends in their neighborhood which has been an answered prayer and even enjoyed trick or treating with them last night.  It was a fun night filled with all things Halloween.

I also feel like we took lots of time to enjoy the fall this year. We took long walks, found new trails to get lost on, enjoyed all the fall color.  All in all, it was a wonderful October.

Now for the fun part.  I've been thinking about goals I want to set for November and here they are - I'm starting kind of slow, because, I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew, and as I previously stated - I want my goals to be attainable.  

Home:
            1. Stick to my new cleaning schedule - it seems to work for both me and the kiddos.

            2. Finish the basement/home school/playroom/guest room.  It's almost company time, and I want to know that is finished and ready for our guests. 

            3. Take a Christmas Picture - OR - pick one we have already taken for Christmas Cards... Maybe - I still haven't decided if I am going to send them out or not.

Health:
            1. Get to bed earlier. I have noticed that my whole day is better when I go to bed earlier.  So I want to be in bed by 10:00 overnight during the week.
            2. Also, because I am considering Health - spiritual health, I want to take time in November to list the things I am thankful for.  For some motivation on that, check out Ann Voskamp's Blog. 

Family:
            1. Two kiddos have birthdays coming up so I need to start planning those, as well as                                                Christmas activities AND gifts.

            2.  Back to Bed time devotions with the girls - we were doing great with this until Erik left for two weeks and we got out of the habit.  I am looking forward to getting those nightly routines back.

             3. Find an advent reading/study for our family to do. 

Home school:

             1. Move the home school room downstairs. We have been homeschooling in the kitchen, which has been fun, but having a room with a place for art, place for books, place for work will come in handy. 

             2. I have set reading goals for Anna, and math goals for Ella that I would like to see get achieved by Christmas. 

             3. Establish a work alone system for Ella. That is not to say that I will not be there to guide here, but I would like to get organized enough to give her a work box of independent work she needs to do for the week and let her set her task and time management.  I have read some ideas about this, but I haven't hashed all the details out yet. Mainly because, I enjoy being a part of most of her learning. I am thinking a syllabus type weekly schedule.