I promised to post updates on my self-control challenge as I am striving to eat less, exercise more, and get enough sleep.  I will post updates on Sundays, and will recap my previous week, post progress of weight lost, and will post targets for the next week.  So, here goes!

EAT LESS- Since beginning this week, I have started just trying to be conscious of when and how much I eat.  I am trying to only eat when I am physically hungry, and then eat moderate amounts and stop when I am no longer hungry (not until I am feeling full or overfull).  My success so far is just that I am more conscious and that I have started to follow this plan.  This week, my action step is that I will write down an eating diary- when I eat, what I eat, and how hungry/full I was before/after eating.

EXERCISE MORE- I haven't even started making a plan for this part, much less doing it.  While I am enthusiastic about changing my lifestyle, I don't want this to be short-lived, so I am trying to make small changes I can live with over time.  Right now, I am not ready to add a work out in to my schedule.  My action step for this week will be to keep a time log, so that I can begin to track my time in order to figure out where in my schedule exercise will eventually fit.

GET ENOUGH SLEEP- I really, REALLY need to go to bed at a decent hour!  I have not yet done it, and I admit it is 100% a self control/disclipline issue.  I get the kids to bed and then I get working on stuff and don't stop... also, I enjoy the quiet house.  The price I pay, though, is that mornings don't go smoothly and are not productive because I am staying in bed as long as possible and wake up tired.  My action step for this week is going to be to be in bed by midnight every single night.  I know that sounds late, but it is nothing compared to what I have been doing!  (OK, to be honest I will have to start that tomorrow night, because I am already up past then now!)

Progress:  I only weighed myself twice, so this may not be accurate, but the second time was 3 pound less than the first.   We'll see, I don't tend to buy it, because in the past I have had a VERY hard time getting the scale to budge AT ALL, much less 3 pounds in a few days.  I have a feeling it was just a normal fluctuation.  Maybe I should weight daily and then average from week to week?  Ideas/ opinions on that?

Another related action step for this week is that I am going to pray specifically for the Lord to help me to develop self-control.  It is listed as a fruit of the Spirit, and therefore I know I cannot expect to develop it on my own, but that if I remain in Jesus I will bear much fruit!  So I figure that will be the key to the whole thing!

On a sad note, I have a cold.  On a happy note, I am feeling like life is getting more organized and doable!  If you want to read more about that, you can go to my other blog here.

So now that I am actually getting some things done, I am feeling inspired to do more projects that have been in the "someday" category for a long time.  So, this is going to serve as the reminder list for me to come back to when I have project time.

Things I would like to get done:

• Declutter my house.  We live in a very small house, and we have TOO MUCH STUFF!  I would love to get it down to just what we need, use, and love.  I would like to do this before Christmas and the two birthdays in the two weeks following, because we are always overwhelmingly blessed with toys and new things coming into the house then!  (And if you have seen Madame Blueberry, I don't have to tell you what packing more stuff into an already packed house would cause to happen.  Ugly.)
• Learn more about gardening and yard upkeep, what needs to be done when, and start to beautify my little portion of the great outdoors.  This is one area that has been totally neglected in my overwhelm with life.  It is in BAD shape, and I would like to get it looking NICE so we can enjoy it!  I would also like to be able to do square foot vegetable gardens next spring with my children, so that is something to work towards!  This is a project that I need to figure out how to do without spending a lot of money.  Ideas are welcome!
• Write a business plan and actually START my home based photography business!
• Desgn and open my new website.  (Idea is done, but I am not releasing it yet because I want it to be a surprise!)
• Start piano/music lessons for the kids.
• Clean the basement and rearrange it to be more of a rec room for our family.
• Move the boys into dd's room and dd into the other bedroom, which will require painting both rooms and assembling a loft bed at the very least.

Ok, that's all I can think of right now because I am already bowled over with the scope/number of projects I came up with in 5 minutes!

I have been away a while, and am happy to say that I am back and things are going really well!  I have missed blogging a lot, for a couple of reasons: 1.  I really enjoy writing.  and 2.  I really enjoy getting to know so many neat women!

School started at our house in early September, and I quickly found myself with the old overwhelmed feeling.... feeling like I was just buried in things to do and that none of it was getting done.  After pouring it all out to my wonderful Gilbert, he suggested that I implement more structure to our day.  So, I made some chore charts and daily routine charts and tried it... and after a week, it has made such a difference!  Our house is so much more orderly and neat, learning is actually happening, and I have even seen a major reduction in behavior/disclipline problems!  Praise the Lord!  I am praying that I can keep it up and not quit!

I have also taken on a fun new project- I am part of the TOS Crew, a focus group for The Old Schoolhouse magazine who will review and spread the word about some homeschooling products over the next few months!  I am excited to try everything and to get to share it with other homeschool moms!  Stay tuned for my first review coming VERY VERY soon!  ( as in, a few minutes from now! ;) )

Blessings for a wonderful fall!