My February Planner ... with printable links! ❤

Hello, my friends ... and Happy Tuesday!

With February now well underway, I thought you might like a peek at my planning pages for the month ahead. January has been retired to a storage binder so it's time to move February to the front of the line!

Isn't the cover page pretty? :)

So first up in my homekeeping binder - before the actual "planner" section - comes my domestic journal. I've blogged about how and why I journal many times before so I won't bore you with details here, but I'd like to show you the first couple of pages in February ...

Ok, I lied, here are a few (hopefully not boring) details ...

Along with handwritten notes, I add clippings from current magazines, newspapers, catalogs (etc.). I adore periodicals - I'm a bit of an information junkie, actually. I choose to save timely things to reflect what's going on right now, and I particularly like things that look visually appealing in my journal. So the journal pages shown above reflect February themes - the Superbowl, Valentines, winter driving, indoor plants and the late winter garden (hellebores, or Lenten Rose) ...

There is also a recipe for a chocolate bundt cake. ❤ And yes, it might seem odd to "bury" a recipe in a journal, but I have a method for keeping track of journal recipes and a system for what gets put in here as opposed to being filed away with other recipes. (More on that in my next #52Weeks progress report, "Cookbook and Recipes," to come later this week!)

I keep my binder open on my kitchen counter at all times (save parties, natch) so I can easily jot things down as they come to me. I add clippings as I can too - catching up during weekend office hours, when I review my journal from the past week. Sometimes I fall behind and keep a small pile of clippings "to journal" in my inbox, but preferably I add things on a daily basis as I come across them in the interest of keeping current.

Ok, now comes the planning section of my binder! First is the February title page ...

Then immediately comes the month-at-a-glance calendar ...

Confession: I have not yet fully embraced this homemade month-at-a-glance calendar. I like how it looks, but it's a bit cramped for me. I tend to need more space in a monthly calendar, because while I do write small, I write A LOT! So for now I'm keeping a second calendar in each monthly section (see the tabs sticking out along the edge of the binder?). This Day-Timer brand calendar features a two-page spread, with a large, lined grid. I've used this calendar for several years now and find it efficient and comfortable.

Just beyond the calendar in the picture above are my "Winter Term" planning and note pages which I moved forward from January. These are pretty basic in design, but give me a place where I can organize our home learning goals for the next few months.

Next we have a brainstorming page for February titled, "Romancing the Winter" ...

Now, I realize some (many?) people find it hard to "embrace" winter - but I honestly love it. Not that I don't yearn for spring when winter lingers into March (which it's known to do in New England), but truly, there's so much to relish in each and every season. My journal (and planner) help remind me of that! So this is just a place where I can write down all the lovely ways to enjoy February ...

Some might find these sheets a bit "silly," but I do not hesitate to include things like this in my planners. I feel seasonal enjoyment lends such richness and comfort to my family's life and if I don't plan for it (imagine it, write it down, work it into our life), it can slip through our fingers too easily as one day blurs into the next. This is why I keep pages like this right beside more "practical" planning sheets. The fun things we did in this post are thanks to this kind of planning. :)

Ok, the next page is for planning "February Festivities: ...

I included St. Brigid's Day, Candlemas, St. Valentine's Day and Shrove Tuesday on this sheet. These are all liturgical feasts/events but I might also have included National Weatherman's Day, Laura Ingall Wilder's Birthday, or Superbowl Sunday. It's all about selecting a few events I want to plan and prepare for each month - with crafts, activities, and/or special foods for my family.

And right after that comes "February Lenten Planning" ...

... including an outline for "The 40 days of Lent."

Lent doesn't actually begin until March 1st but since I want to do my planning ahead this month, these sheets will reside in February. I've just started gathering my thoughts for the season ahead and this is the place I go when I want to make a note or a list.

Next comes the February Overview page and then the weekly planning sections begin ...

This shows a week to come and so it has not been filled out yet. I do most of my "filling in" the weekend before a new Monday. Each weekly planning section contains a seasonally-inspired overview on the left (in Feb. that includes 1/30-2/5, 2/6-2/12, 2/13-2/19, 2/20-2/26) and a home learning worksheet on the right. I'm trying out a couple of extra printables in this section as well (seen in more detail in this post).

(Note: You can find planning sheets for all the months of the year in this post here.)

The remaining sheets in my February planner include a Review Page and event planning pages for St. Valentine's Day and Presidents' Days. (I decided I needed more space for planning Valentines than just the small box in the "Festivities" page.) When I have an idea for observing these holidays I jot them down on their planning pages.

Here's the binder as it sits on my kitchen counter, open to this week's overview ...

A binder clip allows me to flip between the day's journaling page and the current week's planning section. It's a system that seems to be working well for me - not that I'm not always tweaking! Forever tweaking ...

Ok, one last picture then... here is this week's file folder, which I keep tucked inside my binder (you can see it just under that binder clip above!). When I pulled the folder out last Thursday I found the page below inside ...

I was so happy to find this sheet left in here from last year! It reminded me that the bluebirds pass through our area right around now! They enjoy our front burning bush hedge but I want to make up some of these treats to welcome them (lure them) to our yard. This works well with our "Valentines for the Birds" theme next week!

(Another reason to embrace February ... and I definitely would have forgotten about those bluebirds had I not seen this reminder, but now we'll keep an eye out!

Well my friends, I'm going to wrap up and let you go - but I do hope you've enjoyed this peek at my February planner. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to clarify (or expand on) anything. I'm always happy to talk planning!

For now though, I thank you for stopping by and I wish you all a pleasant evening ... still snowing steadily here and boy is it pretty out there. Before I go, here's a picture of the creek up the road ... I snapped this just a little while ago:

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones, my friends ... I'll see you here again very soon!