My Homemade 2021 Planner + Free Printables!

Hello my friends and Happy New Year! I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well. :-)

As I announced yesterday on my Instagram and Facebook, I have posted links to all my 2021 planning sheets - at long last! I have them all pinned at the top of this page - which, you might have noticed, has gotten a bit of a makeover ...

New year, new design!

Anyhoo - my apologies for getting my planning sheets up so very late this year. My hope was to post the PDFs last weekend, but computer issues bogged me down ... and then Thursday morning, as I was chugging along getting very close to the finish line, Earlybird became suddenly quite ill. We ended up taking him to the emergency room and then staying overnight at the hospital. Not quite the way we wanted to spend New Year's Eve, but perhaps rather fitting for the infamous year that was 2020!

Most importantly though, Earlybird is home now and doing much better. He'd been diagnosed with a sinus infection Tuesday at the pediatrician's, but by Thursday morning his face had swelled up and he'd developed a high fever. At the hospital he was diagnosed with "facial cellulitis" and immediately put on intravenous antibiotics. As you can imagine, this experience was incredibly difficult and frightening for Earlybird (as well as his parents). Thankfully the hospital staff was excellent - sensitive and supportive - and EB was so brave, a real trooper! Unfortunately, his fear of needles made it impossible to continue the IV treatment on Friday once the first portal became corrupted, so we were sent home with oral medication and instructions to monitor his recovery closely. So far, (two days post-discharge), he has improved quite a bit. I have been begging prayers all around my social media platforms and I will ask them of you all too, if I may. If you could think of my EB and send him positive thoughts and healing energy, and any prayers if you can spare them - that he continues to heal fully and without any further complications ... I would be so very grateful!

Ok, now - enough of all that, let's take look at my planner, shall we? 

This is the fourth or fifth year I've made up a homemade planner like this, and I must say I am especially pleased with the results this time around! And I know I say this every year, but I really do hope to make this planner available for purchase sometime in the near future. I think I've really got the hang of making it now, I just need to figure out the "logistics" of setting up shop! (Watch for a planner mailing list later this winter for interested folks!)

In the meantime however, please feel free to use these sheets any way you wish, as long as it's for personal use. And if you post about them online, please give me a tag!

Ok, so let me walk you through how I put this planner together ...

First of all, I use a higher quality printer paper for printing out my planning sheets. This year I used Xerox "Bold Professional Premium Quality Printer Paper" (24 lb., 98 bright). I purchased it at CVS. I find that if I use a lower quality, "copy" paper, the planner pages are somewhat see-through, a little rougher to the feel and don't take my pen-ink well.

I use this paper to print out the 12 monthly PDFs plus the Front Section PDF and stack them in order.

I then choose a pretty piece of scrapbooking card-stock weight paper for my cover. I decided to go with a soft bluish-green plaid paper this year ...

... and I used some glittery, soft-aqua letter stickers as well. :-)

Ok, next!

I then create 12 monthly divider pages using thicker card-stock paper. This is not strictly necessary - you could edge the monthly title pages with washi paper to make them stand out - but I like the extra strength and stability those thicker dividers lend to my planners.

For these divider pages, I like to use vintage-style scrapbooking papers I found on Amazon years ago. The particular designs I used have gone out of print, but Graphic 45 always has lovely collections to choose from! As an example, here is the January divider:

(Note: as these collections come in 12"x12" sheets, I cut them down to fit my 8.5"x11" planner.)

I also use a sturdy piece of chipboard for the back cover of my planner.

Just for fun, I made a cozy little date-stamp for the back cover:

(I can't remember exactly where I purchased that nest sticker but it might have been at Paper Source.)

Once I have all the pages of my planner in order, I bring my planner to Staples to have it spiral-bound. This costs about $5 and is usually a pretty quick service. I was happy to have a choice between black and blue coil-binding this year - and I went with the blue!

(Note: I have also used these sheets in a 3-ring binder. I love that option for the flexibility, but I find writing in a spiral-bound book much easier than writing in - and carrying around - a binder.)

Ok, here is a look-see through my planner!

Title Page

New Year Thoughts Page

January Cover Page

(Note: I search Pinterest for *vintage "month" images* to use in my planners. As long as I'm not profiting from these planning sheets I believe the images are free to use for personal use.)

Two-page monthly calendar spread (right side).

January Notes Calendar

(This was my original month-at-a-glance calendar before I figured out how to make a two-page spread! I've used this in different ways over the years - for dinner menus, nature notes and even as a habit tracker.)

January Overview: To-dos, Home & Garden Goals, Budget and Seasonal Ideas.

The weekly spread, left side (overview) ...

The weekly spread, right side (agenda and notes).

(Beginning with the coming week (1/4-1/10), there is a spread like this for each week of the year. In addition to the monthly pages shown above, there is also a monthly review page as well as a couple of extra lined planning pages for each month.)

In a follow-up post I will show you some of my completed planner pages to give you an idea how I actually USE this planner! But for now I will wrap up, and bid you all a fond farewell on this dark, snowy Sunday night. Please let me know if you have any troubles with the links for my planning sheets - I should mention that sometimes the files can be slow to load. But I do hope you enjoy them and I will look forward to talking "planners and planning" again here with you all very soon!

Take care, my friends! Be well and at peace.

❤

My 2020 Printable Planning Sheets + a Surprise Giveaway! 🌞

Hello my friends, and Happy New Year's Eve eve! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. :-)

I'm here today to share printable planning sheets for 2020 - hot off the presses! Below you will find 12 separate PDF links - one for each month of the year. Although I do proof-read the sheets several times, it's inevitable I miss an error or two - remember, this is very much a "homespun" affair. ;-)

Anyhoo, I offer these sheets with the hope that they may be useful to someone else. And as always my planning sheets are free to print, but for personal use only.

Now, a couple of things about this year's batch:

I removed some of the "extra event" planning sheets, because I wanted to slim my planner down a bit. I usually end up keeping holiday planning sheets on clipboards or in folders anyway, along with recipes and other things that pertain to a special day. I'll still make printable holiday planning sheets available, but they will be offered in separate PDFs. I will post them here just as soon as I'm able!

All that said, there are still a few blank planning sheets at the end of each monthly section, as well as several extra note pages at the end of the planner. So all in all I probably didn't end up saving much space, lol - but I hope all this results in a less bulky planner.

Also, I changed around the weekly planning spread a bit! The content is the same, but I switched the agenda and overview pages from left to right and vice versa. I found I really liked having the agenda visible on the far left side of my spread, and my to-do list on the far right.

I also changed the planner title page ...

... because I made up a new photo collage!

I used some fun, favorite blog photographs, and I tried to choose images that captured what I post about most: the seasons, home baking, gardening, nature study, planners, cozy corners - though curiously I left out a proper cup of tea ...

(There is however a cup of tea on the very last page of my planner - my end page!)

Ok, without further ado, here are the links to my monthly planning sheets!

Please read on for instructions on setting up your planner AND some news about a New Year's Giveaway!

🌞The By Sun and Candlelight 2020 Weekly Planner🕯

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

*☕️*

There are a few different ways you can use my planning sheets. I myself like to have them bound at the copy shop but I have also used them in a 3-ring binder. Another idea would be to keep them on clipboards, or even in a file folder crate.

If you are interested in using the whole collection as a spiral bound planner, here is a brief rundown of what I do:

I first print out all the sheets, and then I add:

• a pretty cover page

• 12 monthly divider pages

• a sturdy end page

• adhesive monthly tabs

Note: For printing the planning sheets I prefer Staples-brand letter-size (8.5" x 11") "Premium Bright White Inket & Laser Paper" (28 lb., 98 Bright). I find this paper allows the colors to stand out but not bleed through and it takes a pen (I prefer this one) very nicely. For the covers and dividers, I like to use a heavier scrapbooking paper or "cardstock." You can find such paper at any arts and crafts store, or even on Amazon. (My favorite resource is a company called Graphic 45. They sell beautiful collections of vintage-design papers.)

I use a piece of chipboard for the back cover or end page of my planner which I also order from Amazon. Adhesive tabs for the monthly divider pages can be found at Staples or on Amazon. I personally love Erin Condren's pastel-hued tabs for my planners!

If you have any questions about my sheets or how I set up my planner, please don't hesitate to ask. I've been making them for a few years now and every year I work out a new kink or two! Unfortunately I am not in a position to sell my planners at this time, but hope that you will find them easy enough to print and use yourself through the links here at my blog.

Ok, now about the aforementioned giveaway!

As you all know I held a planner giveaway earlier this month, as part of my Late Autumn Tea series, and Shelly in WI won a copy of my planner (all dolled up and bound just like my own). Well as I worked on our planners - one for Shelly and one for myself - I realized I had some extra supplies on hand so ...

✨I have 3 more planners to give away!✨

(Hooray! I love making planners for people!)

Now if you are interested in winning  planner - all spiral-bound and "dolled up" with dividers, etc. - please leave a comment on this post, answering the following question:

❄️What is something that brings you comfort or joy in the Winter?❄️

I will use your answers as inspiration for my upcoming Deep Winter Tea series!

I will announce the three winners here on Friday, January 3rd and then will mail off these planners just ASAP. Unfortunately, you will be missing the first week or so of planning, but it's the best I can do! I really love sharing these planners, and hope others will enjoy using them, too!

Well my friends, I wish you all the best in 2020! Thanks so much for stopping by, and for all your kind words and encouragement. I am grateful for all your support and the opportunity to share a little of my life through this blog. Here's to many cups of tea and nice long chats in the new year to come!

❤

My Bi-Monthly Bullet Journals

Hello my friends, and Happy Wednesday! How is your winter going? How about your new year??

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last posted! I have in fact had a draft open on my computer for the past couple of months (months?!) but free time has been thin on the ground lately. All that said, I'm sitting down today in the mid-afternoon, to do my very best to get that darn post up at the blog before nightfall! (Or bedtime - whichever comes first!)

Anyhoo - how are you all? I hope you are all well! We are doing just fine here if perhaps stretched a wee bit thin lately from busy schedules and non-sleeping children - but that's a post for a different day! Today I'd like to give you a little tour of my seasonal bullet journal system. I actually have several planning (and tea!) posts percolating, but I'm going to keep things as short and simple today as possible. (Longtime readers know I love long posts - but I also tend to overcomplicate things which keeps me from finishing!)

Ok, onto the bujos ...

So I've posted about my journaling habits here many times before, but "bullet journaling" is a happy little hobby (some might say, lifestyle) I've been exploring just recently. Do any of you keep a bullet journal? Or any kind of journal? I'd love to hear about it if you do! (I'd especially LOVE to hear about bujos you use as self-made planners!)

I'm really still feeling my way around with this concept, but I do LOVE the idea of a bullet journal. And the way other people's journals look on Pinterest. Oh my gosh, i could waste spend so much time on Pinterest drooling over other folks' spreads!

Journal envy aside however, the "bujo" format appeals to me personally for so many reasons - it's creative, flexible, comprehensive and unique! Plus as a life-long DIYer, I just had to give it a go!

Basically, bullet journals meet more than a few of my most pressing planner needs:

I need my planner to be portable - easy to grab and take with me.

I like my planner to be comprehensive - all aspects of my life-planning are in one place.

I enjoy being different. I like for my planner to look like MY planner.

I desire for my planner to be intensely seasonal, a tool for connecting with the rhythm of the season at hand.

I have a few other planners as you all know: a devoted daily planner, a pretty little weekly planner, a binder "household" planner, and let us not forget my own homemade seasonal planner! I have not yet let go of any of these other planners but have instead just set them aside - just for a bit. I've been feeling the need to simplify lately, and use my limited free time as wisely as possible. I bet many of my planner-junkie friends here know what I mean when I say, it's hard to find ONE system that really ticks all the boxes. But it's also hard to truly give a new planner a fighting chance when you have a few other "systems" already in the works!

So I'm on a little planner "diet" while I delve into my bullet-journaling and see if I can make it work all on its own.

(Naturally I immediately broke my "keep it simple" bujo rule, and came up with the idea of a "system" of six journals instead of one. But bear with me - there is a method to my madness!)

As you see in my top picture, there are six journals, and each one is focused on two months, or one season. I keep the current season's journal with me (or close at hand) while the others reside at my desk.

(They fit very nicely in this rack set inside a rolling cart. Isn't rose gold so pretty?)

Top shot. Love the look of fresh notebooks!

This handy rolling cart is situated right next to my "corner office" - a tour of which will be coming next week! (Finally getting it deep-cleaned and re-organized now that Christmas stuff is safely packed away.)

And now for a quick walk-through of my current bullet journal for "Deep Winter" (January & February).

Front cover. As you can see, I haven't done much with the cover(s) yet - I'm still deciding if I like them kind of plain or if I'd like to "collage" them a little. I did use a set of pastel adhesive labels to color-code each seasonal journal. I chose a soft snowy blue for Deep Winter.

That soft snowy blue is followed by a light spring green, then deep blossom pink, sunny golden yellow, warm harvest orange, and finally, a crisp frosty lavender.

(Note: I found these notebooks on Amazon. They come in a pack of two for $12. I ADORE these notebooks! They are a nice size, the paper is wonderfully smooth, the dotted grid helps me keep things neat and the whole kit-and-kaboodle is spiral-bound. Spiral-binding is a must for me when it comes to journals, so this one really hits the journaling spot for me!)

Title page - pretty self-explanatory!

January and February, at a quick glance. Dated calendars above, events of note below.

❄️Exploring Deep Winter nature!

On the left, I listed our weekly seasonal themes and devoted a little space to seasonal brainstorming. I just jotted down any thoughts that came to mind when I pondered the season of Deep Winter ... what we do, what we notice, things we eat, etc.

On the right-hand page I have phenology wheels for the months of January and February, along with a temperature chart. I found the wheel templates on Pinterest. I shaded in the moon phases and every day I draw/write in the weather icon, high temp for the day as well as the sunset time.

(A note on my pens and pencils. In all my planners I use, exclusively, Frixion Erasable Fine Point Pens in black. For the temperature shading I use Raffine Colored Pencils.)

I find using practical tools like paper clips, binder clips and adhesive tabs and flags not only increases the efficiency of a planner but also adds some visual interest! I like using the flags and tabs in the midst of my journaling - sometimes I like to pause and create a list or plan and it's handy to have a way to find that list when I need it! The paper clip's job is described a bit further down in my post.

(Note the next spread was a bit personal, having to do with personal New Year's Goals, so I am skipping that part of the tour. What I did was to write out some personal "Year 50" goals as well as some Winter Wellness ideas and break them down into simple actions to insert into my schedule. That might be a post for another time!)

Ok, next comes the monthly calendar spreads:

And it's as basic as it looks! I just drew in the grids and wrote in the dates, etc. I added washi tape to the edges of this calendar section so it's easy to find it when making appointments or plans. In the leftover white space I added in seasonal quotes and information ... something I have yet to do in my February spread!

(Note: I use Frixion Erasable Highlighters to color-code activities. Green - I'm going somewhere. Blue - the boys are going somewhere. Pink - happy things/self care. Yellow - home-based entertainment/projects. I also have a lavender highlighter for feasts and faith-related activities but I've lost that darn pen!)

Another thing that helps me find sections quickly - paperclips!

I use a large metal paperclip to connect the monthly calendar wth the current weekly spread. This makes it really easy to flip back and forth between my two most used page spreads!

And directly after the monthly calendars comes the weekly planning section. I used three pages for each spread ...

The page on the left side is for the first half of the week. In the top corner I noted the week's dates (always a Monday start) and seasonal theme. I highlighted the month in blue highlighter, indicating it's a "wintry" month. The week-at-a-glance begins with a To-Do column - which admittedly is a little narrow - but since I'm comfortable writing tiny it's no trouble for me. 

I wrote the agenda's hours alongside the spiral binding, and left space at the bottom of each column for pertinent daily notes.

I like that these columns allow for timely planning - it lets me see how full a day might be, and where there is "white space" for other tasks and activities.

The very next page is used as a "middle insert." I think it's kind of like a "dutch door" concept but I don't make any cuts. Instead, I keep it folded so I can see both sides of a weekly spread. I keep it flat in off weeks so as not to add to the journal's bulk.

The folded middle page allows for four sections of notes: seasonskeeping, home lessons, homekeeping, general notes.

The right-hand side of the weekly spread is for the rest of the week, Thursday through Sunday. In the upper righthand corner I have the week's dates and month again along with the current lunar cycle. (As you know, I'm such an "Ooh, look at the moon!" kind of person.🌝)

There are nine weekly spreads in this bullet journal, the very weeks that make up the season of Deep Winter. (Next season's bullet journal, Early Spring, begins with the week of 3/4-3/10.)

At the end of the weekly planning section I have a two page spread for a reading log, then another spread for my thoughts on Winter Homekeeping and connecting with the season of Deep Winter (a time for resting, rejuvenating).

Next comes a journal index page where I will note anything pertinent at the end of the season - information I'll need again and where to find it.

And then begins the true "journal" section of my seasonal bullet journal ... :)

I chose a pretty image from a New Year's card I received from my cousin. (I took a photocopy and taped it onto the page.) 

And the rest of the pages are just being slowly filled up with my thoughts and any clippings I like! These are just a few examples ...

I'm not very strict with my journaling - I don't even do it every day, though I really wish I would. I start with the date and the weather icon/temp. and then I just ot down whatever comes to mind. Things we did, people who visited, observations of nature, ideas for seasonal meals, etc. I want my journal to be something that when looked back upon years from now, there is a sense of me, and my family and home ... and time of year! They're certainly not very exciting and perhaps not all that interesting, but I do love looking back at my journals. It's such a great way to preserve memories and inspire seasonal awareness.

I've kept journals like these since high school, but I've mostly kept them separate from my planners. In recent years however, I have tried keeping my journaling notes inside a three-ring binder, along with planning forms. While I like that idea very much, it's just not very portable ... and so I tend to work in that platform a little less than I'd like. I'm finding this small book is fun and easy to carry with me and work in whenever mood strikes.

Here is my current journaling spread:

I added that pretty February note page but have yet to use it! Not sure if it will be a list of goals for the month or a catch-all of monthly folklore and storytelling ideas. The blue post-it note was for monitoring yesterday's daily to-dos. (I know ... I KNOW. I used this simple little sticky note instead of using a page in my Day Designer and I felt ... well, a little guilty! But a little relieved, too.)

The right -hand page has clippings to be added and you can see the little binder clip I use to mark my spot in my journal. Another handy-dandy tool that helps me find my place fast!

Back cover - the end! :)

Well, I hope you enjoyed this tour of my little seasonal journals! I will revisit them in a future post and let you know how I'm doing with them. I will also post again to update you on how all my other planners are faring. But for now - as the darkness descends out my windows and the ovens come to temperature ... it is time for me to move away from the computer and get my family's supper started!

Thanks as always my friends, for stopping by ... and thanks too, for your patience, when I'm unable to blog. I will always return no matter how long my "breaks" ...

See you here again very soon!

My 2019 Planning Sheets: Printable & Free!

Hello my friends and Happy Sunday! With just a little over a month left to the year, I would like to share my 2019 planning sheets with you all!

Please find all the PDF links below and read on for more information on how to print and assemble your own planner. (With more posts to come on planner "maintenance" as well!)

I believe this is my third (or fourth?) year sharing these planning sheets here at the blog and though I am getting a little more comfortable with the tech side of things, I always seem to scramble to make the sheets "post-able" just before year's end!

This year I'm happy to say I am able to share them in a much more streamlined way - and I hope this makes them easier to use!

Please let me know if you have any trouble printing the sheets or if you come across any typos or incorrect dates. As always, these sheets are very much a homemade affair - a rather personal project I create for myself first, and then make public in hopes others might find them useful. I'm a self-confessed planner addict for sure, but I really enjoy making my own planner because it allows me to create something with my own "mother and homemaker" needs in mind. There are so many gorgeous, wonderful planners out there - and yet I have not been able to find one that not only meets my specific needs but also suits my taste for a planner that's a little old-fashioned, specifically home-centered and has true seasonal "flair."

(To that end, in addition to seasonal quotes on each weekly page, you will notice that font colors change monthly to reflect the time of the year.)

These sheets are certainly not perfect but they do come straight from my heart and it is my dearest hope that they are fun for you to use and maybe inspire you to find a little more "comfort and joy" in the year ahead. 💛

Now as I mentioned last week, as much as I'd truly love to, at this time I'm not able to offer prepared planners for sale. I'm afraid I just don't have the kind of time I'd need to take on such a project. (Folks who have "won" a giveaway copy before can attest to how long it takes me to make it for them!) I'm definitely not saying never - just not this time around!

What I can do though, is share my planning sheets in PDF form, and make them available to readers for free! I can also give you an idea how to go about printing and assembling these pages into your own personal planner, in a form that makes sense. I myself have gone back and forth between using these sheets in a three-ring binder and having them spiral-bound at the copy shop ... but I'll talk more about that in a bit!. :)

Ok, without further ado, here we go! Each link is a printable PDF file and is free for your personal use.

💛 The By Sun and Candlelight Seasonal Planner for 2019

Front Section

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Extra Blank Pages

 (Please note the November and December files are larger due to holiday planning and might take a little longer to load.)

And now for more details ...

I use HP ink and Staples brand "Premium Bright White" paper:

The paper is smooth and has a nice weight to it. :)

Other materials I use when making up a planner:

The planner includes title pages for each month of the year, but I find it handy to insert a thicker piece of paper to set apart the monthly sections. I like to use pretty patterned paper that has the thickness of card stock for this purpose. These papers tend to come in a larger "12x12" inch sheet so I just cut them down to size. I buy mine through Amazon or at the craft store.

As you can see, I really like "vintage" images ...

(Note - if you have trouble finding paper you like, you could also use card-stock for your monthly dividers. I made up a separate PDF of my 12 monthly title pages in case you'd like to use those title pages as dividers. Just print the PDF file on white card stock so the pages have a thicker weight.)

I also like to choose an especially pretty piece of paper to serve as my planner cover page:

I sometimes use alphabet stickers for "monogramming" the cover. I'm not a big sticker gal really, but they can be fun and add just the right touch of whimsy.

Now for a very important piece of the planner assembly, especially if you are binding your sheets at the copy shop ...

This is sturdy 50-point chipboard which will give your planner a very firm back cover. I got a package of 20 for $17 at Amazon. (In case you are wondering, a three hole punch does go through this material!)

Speaking of which ...

If I'm going to keep my planning sheets in a binder, then I use a three-hole punch! The one I have is quite old, but I'm linking one that seems similar: Swingline Three-Hole Punch.

And as for a binder ...

My favorite binder is a Martha Stewart 1-inch, 3-ring binder. It holds 275 sheets and is wonderfully sturdy and the rings work so smoothly. I honestly have not found another binder that works as well! They are all too stiff and the rings can be lethal! You can find this binder at Amazon but I buy mine at Staples for a much better price!

Last but certainly not least (because they give me such joy!) ...

I use adhesive tabs for the monthly divider pages. I love these pretty pastel tabs made by Erin Condren. I buy them at Staples but they are also available Amazon and through www.erincondren.com.

Basically I just print out all the sheets and paper clip each section to keep all those pages in order. 

I add the cover, monthly dividers (with tabs attached) and chipboard backing ... then I either bring the whole thing to the copy shop and ask for it to be "spiral bound" or I hole punch the sheets and file them into a binder. 

A note on spiral binding ... I take my planners to Staples for binding. They offer this service for about $5.00 and depending on how busy the store is, it's a pretty quick job! The spiral binding is made from plastic but recently I was told that they can send out the planners to be bound with a metal coil instead. I have yet to try that but I think metal coils would add a nice sturdiness and a touch of "elegance" to the planner!

Here are a few glimpses of planner construction, but as I mentioned at the start of this post, I will be back with a follow up post to talk more about using the planner once it's all put together!

planner assembly ...

ready for the copy shop ...

the first month of the new year ...

menu planning and overview ...

extra planning pages ...

monthly review and holiday planning ...

the weekly spread ...

January shades of brown, blue and rose ...

the month-at-a-glance ...

color-coded events ...

Well my friends, that is all I have for today! I would love to hear your thoughts and any questions about my planner and/or planner-making process. As I said, I will be back with a follow-up post to talk more about how I use this planner - my "system" if you will - and I will be happy to address any questions in that next post.

In the meantime, thanks so much, as always, for stopping by - I wish you all well and will hope to see you here again very soon!

Seasonal Homeschooling: A Few Printable PDFs!

Hello my friends and Happy Wednesday!

I'm popping in again, just two days before the FREE "Inspire" Virtual Homeschooling Conference (mentioned in Monday's post), to share a few PDF's with you all that will assist with my talk on Seasonal Homeschooling: Cultivating a Gentle, Grateful Year. :)

First, here is a simple SEASONSKEEPING WORKBOOK (click on the link - it's a printable PDF!). In this packet you could brainstorm ideas for embracing the seasons of the year:

There are two pages devoted to each season - one for listing monthly events and one for brainstorming ideas. (In my view, every two months make up a season - so I see the year as divided into six seasons rather than four.)

On the Events page you could list holidays, feast days, full moons, birthdays, anniversaries, sporting events (like the Superbowl or World Series), natural phenomena (such as meteor showers or lunar eclipses) ... really, anything goes! As for the Brainstorming page - well, it could look like a narrative ("Dear Deep Winter, here is what I love about you ...") or it could be filled with words that pop into your mind when you imagine that time of year. For example in the case of Deep Winter, those might be:

snow days • warm mittens • hot cocoa • handmade valentines • birds at the feeders • ETC.

You could ask your family to participate in this activity! The seasons are meaningful to each of us in individual ways. If you're stumped for ideas and looking for inspiration, you might consult your own nature journal or personal diary if you have a habit of jotting down lots of seasonal details (as I do!) or you could thumb through favorite resources or you could even google it! (Pinterest is full of inspiration for the seasons of the year!)

Next, here is the SEASONAL THEMES planning outline I use in my homemade planner:

You're welcome to use my outline for guidance, but I also have a BLANK version for you to use since you'll probably want to come up with your own themes and ideas. Seasonal themes really resonate when inspired by one's local habitat as well as fond family traditions.example, in a deep and snowy New England winter, exploring themes like "hearthside delights," "glass gardens" and stormy weather all make sense and bring joy - but February might look and feel very different where you live! And of course, each family enjoys its own seasonal pastimes. Maybe you all like to ski in the winter? Well, "hearthside delights" would work great! But what if you'd prefer to escape to the tropics? Well, how about a week devoted to exploring "winter citrus?"

Now, I personally like to break down the year into 52 weekly themes because this just works well with my kids and our homeschooling style. But that might seem like a bit much for some folks, so instead you could simplify things and choose 12 monthly themes for the year. Say, "the autumn orchard" in September," "planting time" in May, or "hibernation" in November.

Also on my outline you can see that I list pertinent monthly events below the themes (in green text) and I use little keys to signify in which week the full moon falls as well as when liturgical events tie into our seasonal theme. For example -

✝️ I connect St. Martin's Day (aka Martinmas) with the darkening days of late fall, and the need to light our own inner lights. (This also ties in with Daylight Savings Time ending on 11/4.)

✝️ I tie in the "sticks and stones" of the early December garden with St. Barbara's Day (and the traditional gathering of branches for Christmas bloom).

✝️ The week of the Annunciation is devoted to "sleepy seeds," and we not only plant our own spring hopes in a potting tray, but we make a sweet seed cake to serve on that feast day.

✝️ For St. George's Day we learn about "dragons of the wood" - aka spring salamanders! (Which were once thought to actually BE tiny dragons!)

The liturgical year has such a beautiful rhythm - a time for all things and a reassuring repetition - and I am often overjoyed to find how neatly it dovetails with the familiar framework of the natural year! Both calendars bring me much peace and by following them with my family, we are continually reminding ourselves of the many blessings to behold in any given year. The very gift of another 365 days on this earth is perhaps the best blessing of all - something to remember as the year turns and we take delight in another first snowfall, first crocus, first branch of fiery foliage, or first bat fluttering across a summer night sky ... :)

Ok, moving on now - here is a SEASONAL PLANNING SPREADSHEET, a new form I made up for myself this year:

I'm sharing this two-page planning spread even though I realize it's quite personalized, re homeschooling subjects and all. For each theme I have a box in which to plan:

• Events of Note
• Nature Study
• Outings/Field Trips
• Creative Play
• Reading ...
• Verse to learn
• Language Arts
• Science/Math
• Social Studies
• Crafting
• Home/Family (bringing everyone into it!)
• Art/Music
• Notes

This list represents the elements of our weekly rhythm - one day is for nature study, one day is for crafting, etc. This is the framework of our kindergarten at home - but at present we are still working out a few scheduling details for our new homeschooling year. I may be adjusting our weekly rhythm as September rolls around ...

Well my friends, I am running out of time, so in tomorrow's post I will share a few more things in preparation for Friday's talk. Please let me know if there are any points you'd like me to clarify or expand upon! I'm off for now, but as always, I thank you for joining me and will look forward to seeing you here again very soon ...

Blessings! 

My Primary Planners & (March) Planning

Hello and Happy Weekend, my friends! I hope your week's been a good one! 

Well as hard as it is to believe, March is arriving at the end of next week, so I thought I'd share a peek into my planners as I start looking ahead to "what's what" next month. I try to do this around the third weekend of each month - in hopes I'll have enough time to gather my thoughts and any materials we'll need for the coming weeks. These items would include library requests, craft supplies, educational resources, ingredients for special recipes, holiday/birthday cards, and any special books we have set aside in our seasonal bins ...

(Our seasonal theme next week is "thaw/sap" and our March world culture is Germany.)

Now, note I said planners (not planner) and that's because (as I described in this post from January), I find it a challenge to limit myself to just one! Most of the time I'm just fine with that - because I really do enjoy all my planners and each one of them really does meet a particular need. That said, I also feel like I spend a lot of time juggling all these planners - time I don't really have to spend - and often find myself yearning for a much simpler system. In my heart I'd like to be a one-planner gal but I'm not sure if I'll ever get there ...

So if you use just ONE planner, and it works well for you - well, I am in awe of you! (And perhaps even, a wee bit jealous!)

Anyway, all this planner soul-baring will have to wait for a future post - for today let me get on with the ones I'm using at the moment. And first up is a planner I'm not sure I've shown you before!

This is my sweet and special 2017-2018 Katie Daisy planner! (It can also be found - for a little less money- at Amber Lotus Publishing here.)

Now, very often one of my planners takes the lead in the ongoing race to be "lead planner," and currently this is the one - because I am just SO in love with this lovely little book! It is, without a doubt, the prettiest planner I have EVER seen. It's the one I reach for most often, and the one I prefer to take with me when I'm running out somewhere. It fits perfectly in my purse ...

(This is actually a rather roomy tote, but as you can see I can easily fit both my KD planner and a slightly larger notebook in this bag.)

Now admittedly, when I first bought this petite planner last summer, it was one of those purchases I absolutely recognized as extraneous but I simply could not help myself. It's just that pretty. The size of it intrigued me, too - but more than anything, I was completely enchanted by the gorgeous seasonally inspired pages!

So I used it on and off beginning last August, but when I added a set of pastel monthly tabs to the edges I found it even more useful!

(And PRETTY!)

(Note: I paid far less for these tabs at Staples, but I can't seem to find them elsewhere online.)

I also added, along the top, more adhesive flags and tabs marking spots for seasonal planning. Honest-to-goodness, I find myself a little obsessed with these tabs, those flags, and this planner ...

Happily, Katie Daisy - a brilliant watercolor artist whom I follow on Facebook and Instagram - is publishing a 2018-2019 version of this planner! I was able to pre-order mine here ... and I am positively swooning over that new black floral cover!)

To make this planner work even more efficiently, I use a coordinating binder clip to connect the front cover to the current monthly spread. Then I use a simple gold paper clip to do the same between the month-at-a-glance and the current week's spread. This makes it very easy to quickly get to the place in my planner I need to be! 

Here's a closer look at those clips in action ...

Now, I'm going to "flip" through the pages of my planner, starting with this week (shown above) and moving forward through March - just to give you a sense for how I'm using it and just how LOVELY it is ...

The last February weekly spread is split because March begins on a Thursday ... above is an example of one of the many inspiration pages found throughout the planner.

And next comes another pretty pair of pages, with one side for notes. I decided to make this my spot for Spring Cleaning notes, and as you can see I have only just begun to plan it out - beginning with a post-it note outline ...

(I begin so many things with post-it notes ... what would I ever do without them?)

And now here is the March calendar spread:

The blocks are a bit small, but I found it comfortable to write all the things I need to write here. (It helps of course that I have tiny handwriting.)

And now here's the first weekly spread in March:

On the left there is a soft green note page which I'm using for "Vernal Equinox" planning, and on the right, the second half of the first week of March. (Also, note - at the very top of each right-hand weekly page I'm writing out our weekly seasonal theme. This way I'm able to find a week I'm looking for in a jiffy!)

Isn't the green and cream palette just perfect for March?

Each month is similar, in that, the colors and illustrations match the feel of the season perfectly.

(You can see more page examples at the publisher's site here.)

And though you can hardly see it in my pictures, the planner paper (which is very smooth and lovely to write on) has a very faint quad-grid - which is SUPER helpful for those of us who appreciate a little help with keeping our handwriting straight!

Ok, the very last week in March features a small note space where Sunday would be (because that Sunday is APRIL 1st!) and then the next turn of the page leads to another one of those wonderful inspiration spreads  ...

And then we are in April!

(This note page is where I'll be writing out Easter Sunday plans.)

So as you can most likely tell I am very much head-over-heels in love with this Katie Daisy planner! I would really like to use it exclusively because it feels so simply sufficient - and E-fficient - but most of all, it's so very ME. I've toyed around a little with trying to make it meet ALL my planning needs - but alas, I have an awful lot of those and it would be a rare planner indeed that would be able to accomplish that!

So with that pronouncement, I turn to my next planner - my Day Designer!

So this is my 2017-2018 midyear flagship Day Designer - a daily planner (with monthly calendars included) that runs from June 2017 through May 2018. I now only have a few months left to use in this planner and I can honestly say I've used just about every (daily) page!

The monthly spreads however, I don't really use ...

... though they're great! And since I hate to waste planner space, I've been trying to come up with other uses for this spread. I think I might keep a reading log here! :)

Here though is the meat of this planner ...

The daily planning pages! There is one for each day of the year (although weekends share a page) and the layout it absolutely perfect for my daily planning needs. Here's today's page for example:

I took this picture quite early in the day so I hadn't earned too many checks! As you can see I use this page for essential information pertaining to just that one day. Things I need to remember, and do, and places I need to go. If I was paring down to only one planner, this would be a hard one to do without. It's not as portable or endearing as my Katie Daisy planner, but it is a real workhorse when it comes to the nitty-gritty details of managing my family and home every day!

For more about this particular planner, please see my Day Designer archive here, but now let's take a look at my homemade seasonal planner ...

This too is a planner I've shown you many times before, but here are the March pages:

The very first pic at the top of this post shows you the charming divider paper I use for each month in this planner (part of this collection), and above is the back side of that sheet (left) and the March title page I created using some vintage clipart I found on Pinterest (right).

And now here is my homemade March calendar spread ...

When I made up this planner, I made sure to give myself PLENTY of room for monthly planning! I wanted to be able to add stickers and quotes and all kinds of information (days of note, full moons, weekly themes and ideas). And lined calendar blocks were an absolute necessity!

This month I went with a Beatrix Potter theme, and used colored pencils to softy shade in the quotes. So it's different from my Katie Daisy monthly calendar in that I'm able to include much more information - and yet they both appeal to me visually. And they both make me happy!

Now moving on to my next spread you'll see I have YET ANOTHER monthly calendar here! But this one I use specifically for menu planning. Or nature notes, depending on my mood. (It will be the latter this month so I haven't yet written anything down. I've found I can't really plan out a whole month's menus at a time - too impractical. It's a week-to-week thing for us these days.)

And on the right hand side of this spread I have a monthly overview page for to-dos, home and garden notes, seasonal ideas and goals ...

I had hoped to have this spread filled out to show you but alas - I have not had the time! (Probably spent it all working on those monthly calendars, right?!)

And here is the weekly overview and agenda for next week, the first week in March (2/26-3/4):

This is also still a work in progress - I just filled in things that quickly came to mind yesterday and will work on it more over the weekend. The post-it note is our weekend to-do list which I will use when I fill out the next week to-dos. (Whatever doesn't get done over the weekend + whatever needs doing next week!)

I like to start my "next week planning" on Thursdays, though I very often end up scrambling to pull it together over the weekend. Ideally if I begin my forward planning at the end of a week, that gives me the weekend to gather resources and prep materials and devote a little more attention to writing out actual lesson plans. The page on the right-hand side of this spread is for these details.

(Note: I plan "lessons" - or better to say, "learning activities" - for my younger two boys. Four year old Little Bear is doing pre-k and 16 year old Earlybird, who has autism, is working at various grade levels. We are blessed to have two wonderful ABA therapists, who come for two hours each (four hours a day, Monday through Friday) to work with Earlybird on all kinds of things. It's up to me to plan and organize most of these activities - which target all kinds of learning and growing experiences: life skills, behavioral management, sensory challenges, community outings, etc. It's a lot of work for sure, but extremely rewarding and it has been a super fit for our son!)

Happily I'm able to coordinate many activities that will appeal to, and include, both of my younger boys - and to an extent, the whole family. My ongoing goal is to weave our seasonal homeschooling themes into as many aspects of learning and living as I can!

So for example, next week, the first week in March, we will be exploring the theme of "thaw/melt/sap," and here are a few of my thoughts ...

Late February and early March is maple sugaring season in New England! A time when the daily temperatures might reach 50° while the nights still dip below freezing. When this happens the earth begins to thaw and the sap begins to run - and local sugarhouses open up to visitors! To my mind, this is a wonderful, and most welcome, first sign of spring! And according to my Weather Channel app, next week looks to fit the bill rather nicely, temperature-wise ... so we'll observe the concept of "melt" and "thaw" here at home and of course, try out some "maple" recipes. In addition, our homeschool group has an annual maple sugaring activity and whether or not that falls in our "sap" week, we'll definitely be participating (as we try to every year)! We'll also observe the Full Sap Moon on Thursday night - just after we enjoy a special St. David's supper (potato-leek soup, Welsh Rabbit and daffodil cake). These are all things we've seen/done/eaten before, but happily embrace their familiar and instinctual joy every year. :)

After all the March weekly spreads, I have a page for a month's end review as well as planning pages for special events such as the Vernal Equinox shown here ...

My entire planner can be found in my printables archive, but I am working just as hard as I can - which means in fits and starts when I find time! - to make this into something I could publish and sell to interested parties. I thank you all for your patience, and will hopefully have something to share with you before too long (or at least, before the academic year begins!). In the meantime, feel free to help yourself to those free printables and let me know if you have any questions!

Well, now - I'd say it's about time for me to wrap up! But I thank you, as always, for stopping by and I wish you all a very nice weekend. Thanks so much for reading and please leave me a comment if you have a moment! I can be terribly slow at responding, but please know I read (and appreciate) each and every comment!

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

Our Lenten Cross Countdown ❤

Hello my friends and Happy Monday!

Today I am popping in to share what we're doing for Lent this year - because good grief! Ash Wednesday is THIS Wednesday! It catches me off-guard every year - even though I've had "work on Lent plans" in my planner since Epiphany! 😜  Well, I'm keeping things pretty simple this year, though I am scanning back through my post-it notes with a purpose for some inspiration. I also shopped Pinterest for ideas and saw a couple of things I liked - a hanging paper-chain (because we are always up for a paper-chain in this house!) as well as a fingerprint-filled cross. I combined the two projects and this is what I came up with ...

The paper chain is filled with all the colors of Lent - as well as the last two days of Winter Ordinary Time, since my younger boys did *not* want to wait for Wednesday once they saw those links hanging on the kitchen door! So there are purple links for regular Lenten days, white links for Sundays, a pink link for Gaudete (Rose) Sunday, and three red links for the Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday). At the very bottom you also see - two green links for today and tomorrow! 💚

It's probably pretty obvious what we'll do with this chain, but the plan is to allow one of the younger boys to remove one link for each day throughout Lent. But since they both LOVE to do this they will have to take alternating days and patiently wait their turn. Showing patience does not always come easy around here - going by Little Bear's tearful reaction this morning as EB won the "first link" coin toss - so this little sacrifice will work in nicely with the overall Lent theme. 😉

Next I affixed the chain to the bottom of a plain white (posterboard) cross, and then added simple black stickers to spell out - PRAY FAST GIVE - the three main pillars of Lent. Now here's what I plan to do with that ...

I bought this multi-color ink pad at the craft store, and it has enough colors for each person in our family, if Mom and Dad share a color. Each evening at suppertime we will press our fingers on that pad and then add our own unique fingerprint to the plain cross on our door. (Little Bear will need to be lifted, natch!) These prints will represent our daily Lenten offerings, whatever they may be. (The boys will be welcome to share with the family or keep their actions between them and God.) In theory, we will do this each night but I know how "daily activities" tend to slide as time goes on ... so I'm prepared to do a weekend "catch up" if needs be. :) I also checked that the ink is washable since Earlybird is so sensitive to dyes and fragrance. I tried each of the colors on my own fingers and they all washed off readily.

I also made up a Lenten binder for myself (since I'm the designated cruise director on this here family ship!) and inside I have a page for each day throughout Lent with an idea of something easy to do or suggest to the boys.

Here are a few sample pages ...

There are so many wonderful Lent activity charts and lists readily available online and off, but in order to keep things as manageable and meaningful for my family as possible, I find it works best if I design our own unique plan. Basically I try to keep things simple, easily adjustable, and compatible with our interests and limitations. (Something that might work for us might seem silly to someone else, whereas an idea that makes sense for another family might be impossible for us to do with our special needs child.)

I've also been adding some small post-it notes when I get an additional idea for a certain day. For example, I remembered a book we had about Pope Francis that would be nice to read on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter (Feb. 22nd). Also, I remembered the Full Sap Moon is rising on March 1st, St. David's Day, so I added a "family moon walk" for listening to spring sounds and feeling blessed by the turn of the seasons. 

I could have added these sheets to my main planning/home & family binder but since they are quite bulky and because I had an extra PURPLE binder on hand, I decided to make it a special book of its own. 💜  Filed in the remainder of the sheet protectors I have printouts from the library of all the books I want to request over the next several weeks, as well as a list of seasonal books we already own. (I spent the weekend unearthing those books from the basement!) I MAY also add coloring pages and/or craft projects/recipes as I have time to print them out ... but that seems a little ambitious at the moment, so we'll see how it goes!

(By the way, I originally thought to have our fingerprints kept in the binder, right on the daily pages, but then saw the cross craft on Pinterest and decided I liked that better. I think it will be nice for the boys to watch this rather plain cross "bloom" with our actions and be bursting with bright colors come Easter Sunday.)

The last part of our Lenten prep is to re-do our winter mantle ...

But I have not gotten that done yet! I hope to work on this project tomorrow and will probably post "after" pictures at Facebook and/or Instagram. :)

Well, everyone, thanks so much for stopping by and if you have a moment, I hope you'll say hi! I will be back again later this week with our next Mitten Strings for God Tea and chapter discussion. (We are up to chapter 12 now, "One on One Time.") You can read more about that upcoming post here ... but either way, I hope you might join me! In the meantime ...

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones, my friends ... See you here again very soon!

My Homekeeping Planner Pagefinder

Hello again, my friends! I'm back today with another quick planning post - just a few things I've been sharing on Instagram as part of the #planneraddictpotd challenge. Yesterday's prompt was to show your planner "dashboard," and so, here is mine!

Now, I really don't have a true planner dashboard as I think it was meant for this challenge, but I figured my homekeeping binder page-finder kind of fit the bill! In this binder I keep information related to our household and my "job" as a homekeeper. So I guess one might call this my homekeeping planner.

What do I keep in this binder/planner then? Well I have three main sections:

1. My DOMESTIC JOURNAL, which is simply a place for jotting down any ideas re ~ our home, garden, the kids, weather, etc. Pretty much any random thoughts that pop into my head. (You could call it a brain dump I guess, but I'm not too fond of that term!) Anyhoo, I've blogged about this journal many times before so I won't go into great detail right now, but in addition to my handwritten notes, I also tape clippings here from various sources - mostly magazines and newspapers, but sometimes I print things out I find on Pinterest to add to my journal. (Which kind of defeats the purpose of "pinning" I guess, lol - but I am such a paper gal I find I prefer this kind of visual instead of just looking at something on my computer.) I keep the current month's papers in here and then archive them before a new month begins. As you can see on the left, my journal cover page is a piece of scrapbooking paper. This is the backside of the January design from Graphic 45, "Time to Flourish." I switch these up at the beginning of a new month as well.

2. My MONTHLY HOMEKEEPING CALENDARS, which sit behind the journal. Remember the master cleaning calendar I created a few years ago? I am in the process of transferring all those tasks to these handy monthly calendars. Yes, it's a bit of a chore (no pun intended!) but I like to see my tasks listed out in this way. Makes it easier for delegating, too!

3. My HOMEKEEPING TABS for storing information relating to what I like to call the domestic arts: routines, natural cleaners, home remedies, garden crafts, etc. I love these pretty pastel tabs made by Martha Stewart and found at Staples. (Amazon has them too but at a much higher price!) I haven't labeled my tabs yet because I want them to be super-neat and haven't decided if I should write directly on them, or perhaps use printable labels of some sort.

Ok, here's a closer look at my dashboard/page-finder:

To make this I used some pretty scrapbooking paper with colorful pineapples (the Colonial American symbol of hospitality) and trimmed/punched it to fit my binder. I added an adhesive tab at the top ...

To make the dash more useful, I added a printout of our weekly routine: homeschooling & housekeeping rhythms listed by day of the week. I then add little sticky notes to remind myself of current tasks to add to my housekeeping agenda.

Now, does all of this mean that I get ALL of it done and keep up with all those tasks every week?

 

🤔

Well, no. But I do think this helps! I keep this binder open on my kitchen counter all day so I can easily jot/tape down a thought/clipping as I think/find them. So in that way this "dashboard" is very much a launchpad for my planning!

Do you use a dashboard and/or page-finder in your planner (or binder as the case may be)? I'd love to hear about it - let me know below if you have a moment! :)

I'm still working on that "planners-in-action" post for - hopefully - later this week. I wasn't up to my usual planning the past week as we all succumbed to the stomach flu! Things seem to be getting back on track now though so I should have some fully utilized planner pages to share soon!

Hope all is well with you all! Enjoy your Tuesday, my friends ...

See you here again very soon!

My Planner Giveaway: We Have a Winner!

Hello and Happy Monday, my friends! I hope you are all doing well ... :)

I am very sorry that I had to delay this announcement an extra day ... things have slowed down here a bit lately because we here are in the midst of ... stomach flu!

ARGH, yes. Ugh. Not fun. AT ALL. sigh ...

>> insert exhausted face here <<

Thankfully, though * knocks on wood * we seem to be pulling through the worst of it and a return to normalcy is on the horizon ... but boy, lemme tell you. New Year's really started out with a bang around here - what with the BLIZZARD and the Arctic weather that followed and then this wretched virus that settled in first with Earlybird early on New Year's morn ...

(We're pretty much hibernating for the rest of the winter, just FYI.)

ANYHOO!

We're all getting better, the temperatures are finally rising and now I have a winner to name! (Please remember this current giveaway is sponsored by dear reader - and previous planner winner - Lisa E. ❤ I am very grateful to Lisa for assisting me in another chance to share my planner!)

So without further ado ... the person who won my seasonal planner this time around is ...

BARBARA H.!

Congratulations, Barbara!! I'm very happy for you and I hope you will be happy with the planner! I will be in touch soon to arrange mailing details. We can also talk about planner preferences like start dates and such ... :)

Now, before I go, I'd love to share a few more pics if I could ...

And to start with, here is my afternoon tea the other day, a delicious cup of white hot cocoa complete with a marshmallow snowflake!

(Note: That snowflake was a fun treat in my Christmas stocking, but I have it on good authority Santa found it at Barnes & Noble.)

And here is the January divider page, one of my favorites ...

These vintage papers really make the planner for me, and that is one of the big sticking points in my quest to make this a product I might sell. I am trying to determine if I can sell a planner I've made using papers such as these. I think it's ok, but obviously I want to be absolutely sure it's legal before I move forward ...

You know, I've been using my planner for six months now and I am really enjoying it very much. In fact, after I make up Barbara's planner (and finish another for my friend who also has been patiently waiting) I am going to start right in on making my next planner which will begin with August 2018. Bill has been working on making the printing and assembling process more efficient so hopefully that will allow me to churn out planners in a more timely fashion. And since several of you have asked if I might sell this planner at some point - the answer is still yes, I hope so! We'll be looking into that possibility much more earnestly over the next few months. I'll share news on that front as I have it to share! 

(In the meantime, I've shared all of the planner pages in PDF form for free and you can find them in my Printables archive.)

Here are a few closer peeks ...

Love using paper clips to keep the monthly spreads quickly accessible!

These monthly tabs are no longer made by Avery which is a real bummer because I LOVE them and hoarded them for as long as I could. I'm looking for another style now, and did come across some made by Erin Condren last time I was at Staples that might work. I may even try my hand at crafting my own ...

Last weekend I got my February calendar set up and as you can see (and as I have shared before), I treat this planner as a seasonal journal as much as I do a planning tool. As the months go along though, I've seen some things I'd like to improve - and I'm taking notes! - but for the most part I'm pretty happy with how this planner works for me!

Now, it clearly isn't for everyone - humble and all as it is - but I'm thrilled to hear that it appeals to others as well. So let me know if you have any suggestions ... I'd love to hear what YOU'd want to see in a seasonal planner! Drop me a comment below or send me an email at ...

---> drhanigan AT gmail DOT com

Next post will have a closer look at those primary planners I posted about last week and I will also be announcing our book study schedule SOON. I hope to be back here again before the end of the week!

For now though I'll wrap things up and let you go. But first I'd like to thank Lisa one more time and congratulate Barbara one more time - AND thank all of you for taking part in my "happy" planner giveaway. I loved reading all your thoughts and I thank you for those kind birthday wishes for my son! 

And now I'm going to head over to the couch where Little Bear is hoping for a little Wild Kratts and snuggling on the couch with his Mama ... but first I'll start the kettle for tea!

Wishing you all the best my friends, stay well and be at peace ...

I will see you here again very soon!

A Close-Up Look at My September Planning ... 🍂

Hello my friends, and Happy Thursday! I hope your week is going well. :)

Today I thought I'd share my September planner pages with you all. These are part of the seasonal planner I made up for myself some time ago, and if you'd like to read more about these sheets (and access the free & printable PDFs), here are links to a few very detailed posts:

My 2017 (Printable) Planner

I Made My Own Planner (and Here's How)!

My Seasonal Planning Sheets for 2018 

For most of this past year I kept these sheets in my three-ring "homekeeping" binder, but last month I decided to have them made into a spiral-bound planner ... and boy, am I so glad I did! I find using my planning sheets consistently and thoroughly is much easier in this format! Mostly because they're just so much more portable this way. I like to take my planner upstairs with me at night (as well as my Day Designer) and leave it by my bedroom chair to review when I wake up. (I usually have a good 2-3 hours to nurse coffee and plan before my youngest is up for the day.) Throughout the day I keep my planners parked on my kitchen counter so I can quickly check in and see "what's what" as we move through the rhythm of our day ... sometimes I scoop them up and bring them with me to the kitchen table or my family room desk ... or lately, the learning room table. :)

So to begin with, here is the lovely paper that serves as my September divider page ...

This kind of paper just makes me SO happy. Every day when I thumb to my September calendar to start my day's planning I pause at this page and just soak it all in. :) 

Next comes my own monthly title page ...

And then the next turn brings me to my two-page monthly calendar spread ...

As you can see on the left side of the page, I'm using a very simple tool for marking this oft-viewed calendar - the humble paper clip! You can also see that I've added some stickers, washi tape and seasonal quotes to make the spread "sparkle" a bit. :)

Bold alphabet stickers along the edge announce the month ...

And here's the opposite corner with a little more seasonal goodness sprinkled here and there!

(Truth be told, I took the above pictures before I had the calendar completely filled out - in fact, our whole ABA schedule has changed! - but you probably get the gist of how I'm using it.)

Now, moving on to the next spread ...

On the left is the one-page monthly calendar I made for my original planning sheets ... before I decided I REALLY needed a two-page spread! I tried recording nature notes here in August, which was fun, but then I decided my planner needed a little more flexibility when it came to meal planning. So from now on this is where I'll work out a little seasonally-inspired meal planning!

I started by brainstorming seasonal key words on little sticky notes. These are foods I yearn for in September, but I'm sure everyone has their own idea of what foods say "early autumn" to them! Then I began planning special suppers (Michaelmas, Autumn Equinox, Full Corn Moon), then all the Sunday dinners ... and the busy nights that need to be super easy ... and then I checked a collection of recipes I've been wanting to try, and finally a list of old standbys ... before I knew it I had the whole month filled out!

Best of all - it's all written in erasable ink because you know - the best laid plans and all that. Have I stuck with it so far? Well, for the most part, yes. (So said on the SIXTH day of the month, lol.) Tonight though, instead of American Chop Suey (which for some reason is true Patriots game day food), I decided to go with crescent dogs, crockpot mac-and-cheese, tossed salad and tater tots. (All boy-friendly, comfort food and "football foodstuffs" as well! Tonight is the NFL Kickoff in case you didn't know ... hosted by our beloved Pats, aka Superbowl Champs!)

I didn't make the molasses bar cookies though ... I brought the boys shopping with me over the weekend so we had enough "desserts" on hand as it was. I hope to do some baking this weekend, though - with local fruit, hopefully!

(Also shown in that photo - see two above - on the right-hand side of the spread is the monthly Overview page, and it's pretty self-explanatory I think. I try to check in with these ideas each weekend to see what still needs addressing, or fitting in! Then I tweak the upcoming week's plan accordingly.)

Ok, next up are the weekly spreads and here is the first week of the month before I had written anything down ...

In my September section there are five weekly planning spreads, ending on Sunday, October 1st. My weeks run Monday through Sunday because that's just how I see things! 

Here is this week's planning spread "in action" ...

To be completely honest I am still figuring out how best to "work" this planning spread ... but so far I am loving it! The left side is for more general weekly planning: days of note, our seasonal theme, nightly suppers, house & garden notes, weekly to-dos and a special spot for listing out what I like to call ... "crafts and comforts."

So what are "crafts and comforts" you might be wondering? Well, that's a whole 'nother post but - briefly - in this space I jot down things I'd like to do with the boys in keeping with our weekly theme (in this case, "crows and corn,") as well as a few ideas for enjoying the season myself. I find tuning into the season in simple ways really nourishes my spirit and fills my heart with gratitude. I've been doing this kind of "planning" since I was a young girl, but as a busy mom of four boys, it can be easy to let "seasonal awareness" slide. Since I feel this is an important habit to cultivate, I try to make room for it in my everyday life - via my planner! This was the primary reason I decided to make my own planner ... I couldn't find one that made room for these kinds of plans! (At least not with the colors, quotes and vintage images!)

So yes, there is also a quote for the week on this page, and each one mirrors the season itself. This week's (an old children's song) works perfectly - the goldenrod is, in fact, vivid yellow ... and just about everywhere you look, the cornstalks are drying out and turning brown ... and the apple orchards are busily bearing fruit!

The right side is for a week-at-a-glance agenda and homeschooling notes ... 

I added a pretty Susan Branch note sheet here for general notes for each of my boys this month as well as a seasonal study (based on an old Celtic tree calendar I came across on Pinterest). The note sheet was not adhesive so I used a bit of washi-tape to hold it down and it is easily moved from week to week.

Beneath the note sheet I have sticky notes that let me write down pre-k activities each day that tie in with the rhythm of the day and the theme of the week. So, for example, Wednesdays are "storytelling" days and this week is all about "crows and corn." So I used our black crow finger puppet to weave a little tale involving crows, ravens and cornfields. And on Monday, nature study day, we took a crow walk to listen for crows cawing. These kinds of activities are the foundation for Little Bear's early learning and I have such a lovely time brainstorming these ideas. But even when I have LOTS of ideas, I try to keep things as simple as possible ... you can't fit too much on a post-it! :)

Beneath the sticky notes are more lesson plan notes with little checkboxes and all. This is another area I'm still figuring out how to use (hence the pre-k post-its!) so I'll do a follow-up post with a closer look at this column. :)

(I will also do a follow-up post on how we do preschool ... which hasn't changed much since my older boys were little! What a gift it is to get to do this one more time ... ❤)

Last picture, and a preview of yet another post-to-come ... 

How do I use my Day Designer WITH my homemade seasonal planner? What do I write where? Which planner goes where? Where is there overlap - and does it matter? Ah ... so much to say on that subject! So it will have to be a post for another time. For now I will wrap up and let you all go. But I thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my post! In a few days I will be back with a FULL tour of our learning room, all revamped and ready to go for the  new year! (You may have seen peeks on Facebook and Instagram ... I've had such fun getting this room ready!)

So goodnight my friends, and take care ... I will see you here again very soon!

Giveaway Time! One of My Seasonal Planners!

Hello my friends! I hope your week has gone well! 🌞

Well, I was hoping to have a video tour of my planner to share with you all today, but it would seem that endeavor is just not in the cards! My first several attempts came out ... erm, upside down (apparently I was holding the phone wrong!), but once I finally got a hang of it, my voice was too raspy to record! Plus there was a little thing called "supper" everyone seemed to be expecting. 🙄  Next morning - I had my voice, had my phone, had plenty of light in the sunroom! - but there were constant interruptions from my kids, my cats ... the horse next door, the dining room drapes falling down ... you name it, it happened, lol! Finally, my phone just got plain tired of the whole thing and now won't record at all!! 

Anyhoo - tech-troubles aside, let's move on with the GIVEAWAY details!

So, you may have seen the homemade planner I made for myself in an earlier post ... well, as it turns out, I happen to have all the supplies on hand to make another whole planner! So I thought: wouldn't it be fun to do just that and then offer it to one of my readers? 😊

To learn more about how my planner is set up, please see these two posts for more details! (They're both chock-full of printables!) But as I said in those posts, this is a very humble, homemade planner. I would not want anyone to expect a perfect "professional" product!

I feel this planner is a work in progress (a prototype kind of) and very much a work of the heart. If you're at all familiar with me and/or my blog then you know how much joy I take in my family, our home and the seasons of the year. This planner is an attempt to address all those aspects of my life in a pretty and practical way. I had a LOT of fun making it and would gladly do it again ... and so I will!

And if you're interested, you might be the one to get that second copy!

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below letting me know you are interested!

All I need is a name! When you type in your email it does not get displayed publicly - I can access it only through Typepad. I will throw all the names in a hat (literally, we'll use Little Bear's sunhat!) and, a week from today, on the morning of Friday, August 25th I will draw a name from that hat and that person will win a complete By Sun & Candlelight weekly planner! 

I'll announce the winner in a post that very day and then be in touch to arrange mailing details as well as planner preferences. Then, just as soon as I am able, I will create that new planner and mail it to the lucky winner! The planner can either an academic planner (Sept-Aug) or a regular calendar (January-December 2018). As these planners do take a bit of time to assemble (and it is a busy few weeks for us at the moment), I can't promise to have it to mailed by September 1st but I will try to send it out asap!

I hope to hear from you! I'm so excited to have someone else use my planner and see what they think! In the meantime, I wish you all a pleasant and productive weekend! I myself have ed. plans to write and a learning room to finish up ... so we'll have lots to talk about next week!

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

My Seasonal Planning Sheets for 2018!

Hello my friends, and Happy Monday! I am following up on my previous post (a tour of my new homemade planner), with a brand new set of updated sheets for 2018! If you're interested in making up a planner like the one described in that post (and shown above), here are a few notes:

SO ...

The basic planner pages (forms for homelearning, homekeeping and seasonal living) are all linked in this post.

You might want a title page, and if you like, you're welcome to use this one ... :)

You might want thicker, monthly divider pages - I find a heavy scrapbooking paper (like card stock weight) works well. In my planner I used this paper pad.

I also used a thick sheet of scrapbook paper for my planner cover. (I found the heart maps pattern seen above at Michaels.)

A good, firm backing is essential and for this I used a piece of chipboard (also found at Michaels).

I used some pretty washi tape and decorative stickers to brighten up my two-page monthly calendars. :)

I also used adhesive monthly tabs along the edge of the monthly dividers. (Check Staples or Amazon.)

You might want to keep your sheets in a binder or on a clipboard (I've tried both before!) but this time around I had my whole planner fitted with plastic spiral-binding at Staples. I find it much easier to use the pages in this form ... and it cost just a little under $5!

 AND ...

If you used my planning sheets this year (2017) then the weekly quotes will look very familiar! I just didn't have time to research new quotes this time around!

The one-page monthly calendar might seem redundant. This was the calendar I created with my first set of sheets and, while I like the look of it, I didn't like the lack of writing space! (Which is why I made up the two-page spread.) I use this one-page calendar in my planner for brief nature notes. This might also be used as a gratitude journal, reading log or for planning seasonal suppers!

Any links marked with an * are sheets I printed double-sided. (For example, "Garden Planning.")

There are two versions of the weekly "agenda" page - one with a column marked "Student Goals" (which I use for weekly lesson planning) and one marked simply, "Notes" (for non-homeschoolers!). Also, when you go to print the agenda pages, there is an extra blank sheet attached to this form and no matter what I try I can't seem to make it disappear! When you go to print this page, just set your printer to page one only.

For each month there is a blank planning sheet so you can make up your own "events" and "special projects" pages. :)

In a similar vein, please let me know if you'd like a "Birthday Journal" page done in a different monthly color scheme. As mine falls in January, that's the one I went with! :)

ALSO ...

Down the road I will have a guide to my sheets available because I often get asked, "How do I fill in the 'Crafts & Comforts' section?" Or "Can I see one of your events/project pages filled out?" I could just say go check my blog, lol! But that would be flippant and I'm rarely ever flippant so what I'd like to do - would love to do! - would be to write up a kind of guidebook to my own kind of seasonal learning and living. Not sure just what kind of platform this would be - a newsletter? An e-book? A printable thing? So stay tuned for more news on that ... and I'm all ears for any suggestions!

FINALLY ...

You have all been so very kind and encouraging as I toodle around with this little hobby of mine (as my husband calls it, lol) and I so appreciate your thoughts, inquiries and patience! Please remember, this is VERY much a homemade kind of thing ... some of the lines are a little off, there are apt to be typos and ... well, I'm sure there will be other bugaboos to come up! Please don't hesitate to let me know when you find something wrong and I will do my very best to fix it!

OH, ONE MORE THING ...

I will be doing a GIVEAWAY coming up soon that will be a printed planner all done up and ready to go ... from me to you! I will have a separate post announcing that giveaway but feel free to let me know in a comment here if you're interested ... I will start a list of names to throw in the proverbial hat!

OK, here we go ... my planner PDFs at long last!

JANUARY 2018

January Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left side, Right side

January 2018 one page calendar

January Overview

1/1-1/7 2018

1/8-1/14 2018

1/15-1/21 2018

1/22-1/28 2018

January Agenda: Student Goals

January Agenda: Notes

January Review

January Blank Planning Sheet

Happy New Year!

Birthday Journal

 

FEBRUARY 2018

February Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

February 2018 One Page Calendar

February Overview

1/29-2/4 2018

2/5-2/11 2018

2/12-2/18 2018

2/19-2/25 2018

February Agenda: Student Goals

February Agenda: Notes

February Review

February Blank Planning Sheet

 St. Valentine's Day

Honoring Lincoln & Washington

Lenten Planning*

 

MARCH 2018

March Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

March 2018 One Page Calendar

March Overview

2/26-3/4 2018

3/5-3/11 2018

3/12-3/18 2018

3/19-3/25 2018

3/26-4/1 2018

March Agenda: Student Goals

March Agenda: Notes

March Review

March Blank Planning Sheet

The Vernal Equinox

Holy Week

Easter Sunday*

 

APRIL 2018

April Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

April 2018 One Page Calendar

April Overview

4/2-4/8 2018

4/9-4/15 2018

 4/16-4/22 2018

4/23-4/29 2018

April Agenda: Student Goals

April Agenda: Notes

April Review

April Blank Planning Sheet

Spring Awakens

Honoring Mother Earth

Spring Cleaning*

 

MAY 2018

May Title Page 2018

Blank  Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

May 2018 One Page Calendar

May Overview

4/30-5/6 2018

5/7-5/13 2018

5/14-5/20 2018

5/21-5/27 2018

May Agenda: Student Goals

May Agenda: Notes

May Review

May Blank Planning Sheet

Mother's Day

Ascension Day & Pentecost Sunday

Garden Plans*

 

JUNE 2018

June Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

June 2018 One Page Calendar

June Overview

5/28-6/3 2018

6/4-6/10 2018

6/11-6/17 2018

6/18-6/24 2018

6/25-7/1 2018

June Agenda: Student Goals

June Agenda: Notes

June Review

June Blank Planning Sheet

Father's Day

Summer Plans & Goals

Midsummer's Eve

Midsummer's Day

 

JULY 2018

July Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

July 2018 One Page Calendar

July Overview

7/2-7/8 2018

7/9-7/15 2018

7/16-7/22 2018

7/23-7/29 2018

July Agenda: Student Goals

July Agenda: Notes

July Review

July Blank Planning Sheet

America the Beautiful

 

AUGUST 2018

August Title Page 2018

August 2018 One Page Calendar

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

August 2018 One Page Calendar

August Overview

7/30-8/5 2018

8/6-8/12 2018

8/13-8/19 2018

8/20-8/26 2018

8/27-9/2 2018

August Agenda: Student Goals

August Agenda: Notes

August Review

August Blank Planning Sheeet

Back to School*

 

SEPTEMBER 2018

September Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

September 2018 One Page Calendar

September Overview

9/3-9/9 2018

9/10-9/16 2018

9/17-9/23 2018

9/24-9/30 2018

September Agenda: Student Goals

September Agenda: Notes

September Review

September Blank Planning Sheet

Autumn Equinox

Michaelmas Day

 

OCTOBER 2018

October Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

October 2018 One Page Calendar

October Overview

10/1-10/7 2018

10/8-10/14 2018

10/15-10/21 2018

10/22-10/28 2018

10/29-11/4 2018

October Agenda: Student Goals

October Agenda: Notes

October Review

October Blank Planning Sheet

All Hallow's Eve*

 

NOVEMBER 2018

November Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

November 2018 One Page Calendar

November Overview

11/5-11/11 2018

11/12-11/18 2018

11/19-11/25 2018

11/26-12/2 2018

November Agenda: Student Goals

November Agenda: Notes

November Review

November Blank Planning Sheet

Our Gratitude Project

Martinmas Day

Thanksgiving Planner (this is a multi-page planner, something I shared last year - it takes a bit to upload!)

 

DECEMBER 2018

December Title Page 2018

Blank Calendar Spread: Left Side, Right Side

December 2018 One Page Calendar

December Overview

12/3-12/9 2018

12/10-12/16 2018

12/17-12/23 2018

12/24-12/30 2018

12/31-1/6 2018

December Agenda: Student Goals

December Agenda: Notes

December Review

December Blank Planning Sheet

The Winter Solstice

Preparing Our Hearts (& Homes) for Winter

Celebrating Advent & Christmas (another multi-page planner from last year - the dates are a little off!)

 *❤*❤*❤*❤*❤*❤*❤*❤*❤*

Ok, I will not keep you any longer ... I'm going to hit "pubish" and then furiously check my links for any issues! Thanks so much for stopping by and as always, I am wishing you all well and hoping to hear from you if you have a moment. Don't forget to let me know if you are interested in the giveaway! 

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

p.s. If you want to make up a planner for 2017 (or what's left of it!) all my planning sheets for those months can be found here. :)

I Made My Own Planner! (And Here's How)

Hello my friends, and Happy August! Can you believe we're nearing the end of Summer already?! I know some of you are already back to school/homeschool, but we don't officially begin lessons again until the day after Labor Day. So I'm presently attempting to both relish these final days of Summer AND devote a few brain cells to the ed. planning for next year!

As usual I have several posts percolating in regards to my current state of mind, but first up, here's a look at my homemade planner!

Now, you all know how much I love new planners and how I struggle to resist them (there are sooo many beautiful options out there!) but I also enjoy making my own planner from time to time. Because sometimes I just can't find a planner that does everything I want it to do, and so I start getting itchy to create something very personal ... something that more closely matches my own particular needs and tastes ... even if the final results are *ahem* humble at best!

So please bear in mind, this planner I'm about to show you is VERY much homemade. It's not at all slick or professional - a prototype, really - but I am mostly satisfied with the results now that it's complete. And so now I'm here to share how I went about designing and assembling this planner!

It's a super-long post (as if I write any other kind) so best grab yourself a cup of tea and get comfortable! :)

 

PRINTING & BINDING THE PLANNER

Now, while this is not my first time creating my own planner, it is the first time I've used my seasonal planning sheets as the foundation. I was going to tweak the sheets a little before printing them but decided not to take that time - instead I'll just work with what I've got and see how it goes! So I began my new planner project by printing out fresh copies of all the seasonal planning sheets starting with August, 2017 ...

(Note: all the planning sheets for 2017 can be found here in this post.)

Next I set about creating extra pages to go along with my weekly planning sheets, to address more of my responsibilities - namely, homeschooling our children and managing our household. I also created some sheets that complement my passion for seasonal planning ... and I did all of this using the Pages application on my Mac desktop. Now, I am FAR from tech-savvy, but once I got the hang of it I found it all really fun! (Even a bit addicting!)

Next I chose some very pretty seasonal papers to serve as monthly dividers. Here's a collage ...

These papers are from a collection of scrapbooking paper called Children's Hour, and are made by Graphic 45. I just love a vintage look - images that harken back to simpler times and pleasures - but since these papers are sized 12 x 12, I needed to cut them down to fit my planner platform. (The above link has an affiliate tag just so's you know. 😉 That means if you follow a link to Amazon from my blog, I get a little kickback if you make a purchase. So thanks in advance if you do!)

I also chose a piece of scrapbooking paper with a design I truly loved for the front cover (covers are so important!).  And here's the whole kit and kaboodle just before binding ...

And ... voila! My finished planner, hot off the presses! :)

 

I always go to my local Staples when I need something bound - and as usual they did a great job! I chose a black spiral coil and opted for the additional see-through cover for a little extra protection. (I would LOVE to find a place that does metal coil binding instead of plastic ... or perhaps invest in my own binding machine down the road!)

Ok, now for the tour! 

 

TITLE PAGE

Well, this is pretty self-explanatory! I have always liked the image of a tiny acorn being nurtured and encouraged to grow into a strong and solid oak. :) I found the clipart on Pinterest. 

Note: This September I begin my 18th year of homeschooling! This year I will have a 12th grader, an 8th grader (with special needs) and a 4yo preschooler! (My oldest graduated college last May!) The 12th grader takes all of his classes save for Math, outside the home (in homeschool group classes). The 8th grader is developmentally much younger than this grade would suggest so I tailor his lessons to fit his unique learning needs. For him and my youngest we are mostly Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, with some Charlotte Mason sensibilities thrown in for good measure. ;) We have used Oak Meadow curriculum since 2001 - some years more so than others - and this year I am drawing from a couple of grades as I plan out the year for my younger two sons. (More on our actual lesson plans in a future post!)

 

DATED CALENDARS

This next spread is for general reference but also, I have used highlighters to mark time off and on in our homeschooling year. We don't follow the school calendar - I like to take time at the holidays, particularly leading up to a special day so we can focus on the preparations and really absorb the festive atmosphere. So this means we take off the week before Thanksgiving, the week before (and after) Christmas, and the week leading up to Easter Sunday - aka Holy Week. :)

Note: You can find many kinds of dated and undated calendar forms online for free. These particular calendars were created by The Day Designer - I just liked the look of them!

 

THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

The left side of this spread is for birthdays, holidays, feast days, and any special days of note. The right side is for my seasonal homeschooling/homekeeping themes. (I assign one per week plus there are always a couple of other seasonal events or concepts to be aware of each month). A later post will discuss my seasonal themes and plans in greater detail!

Note: Some of the sheets I show you will be filled out and some will still be blank. I am slowly working through them, but do plan to talk more in depth about certain spreads in a series of follow-up posts.

Printables available: Year at a Glance, Nature Study Themes

 

RHYTHM: WEEKLY & DAILY 

Every year has its own schedule of homeschool classes, clubs and therapy appointments, but our rhythm - those recurring activities that are tied to a specific day - has pretty much stayed the same. This concept of "rhythm" is something I learned early on as a Waldorf-inspired homeschooler and it's one of my favorite aspects of this educational method. (And ties in nicely with my passion for seasonal homeschooling!)

In the above spread I created forms for working out this year's weekly and daily rhythms ... and below you can see how I'm filling them out!

(Note: I sometimes get a little carried away with colored pencils. The soft hint of color makes me happy!)

On the left-hand page I have worked out the basic rhythm of our week. The top row shows the main activity for each day - this is mostly geared towards my younger boys, though in some ways this affects Crackerjack (and even Bookworm if he's handy), too. They are both very good sports about participating and helping out when they can! And on the right-hand page I am just starting to work out the daily rhythms ...

When planning something like a day or week (or season), I like to use both sides of my brain, so to speak. There are the practical tasks to consider - like make bed, make breakfast, take vitamins - but there are also those actions and feelings I hope will infuse our days/weeks with a sense of care and gentleness. So, I include things like ... sit by the open window and greet they day ... take time for a blessing before the day gets going ... light the "lanterns" as the sun goes down ... etc. Including these kinds of things in my planning not only makes me happy but I think genuinely create a happier day (week, season) for my whole family. :)

Note: Before I write things down I often "flesh out ideas" on post-its as I've done here. Once I have all the information straight in my mind (and on those notes!) I will then write directly in my planner.

Printables available: Our Weekly Rhythm (blank), Our Daily Rhythm

 

LESSON PLANNING: 2017-2018

This is a two page spread for planning out the topics I'll cover with my younger boys within each subject throughout each month of the year. This is not the spot for nitty-gritty detailed planning, but rather, a general overview of themes and ideas. The left side of the page is for September through February and the right-hand side of the spread is for March through August.

I've made some progress filling these out, so here's a peek! (I hope to finish this coming weekend when I do the bulk of our ed. planning.)

Our subjects are listed as:

Month/Nature (each month's seasonal themes: ex. crows/corn, apples/the orchard, welcome autumn, autumn seeds)

Reading (audiobook/special picture books)

Country (we're exploring world history/culture/geography by country rather than timeline this year)

Science (zoology, famous scientists, climate science)

Language (speech, writing activities, penmanship)

Crafts/Circle (tied in with seasonal homeschooling - handcrafts, projects, music/movement)

Habit/Value (a concept to work on like, diligence, compassion, courage, gratitude, etc. ... also a saint to learn about)

Printables available: Lesson Planning (as above), Lesson Planning (with blank headers)

 

STUDENT OVERVIEWS & FIELD TRIPS/FAMILY ACTIVITIES

"This Year's Subjects & Goals" provides a spot for me to create an educational overview for each of my boys (those still being homeschooled). There is also a section for notes. So for Little Bear I'll list things like ... "nature exploration and language development," and for Earlybird there will be things like "improve math skills and penmanship" whereas for Crackerjack I'll list his class titles "Creative Writing" and "Spanish IV" ... etc. I'll add things we'll study/do as a family in the notes section - such as liturgical teas and faith formation, global awareness, environmental education, community service and life skills.

The page on the right, as its title suggests, is for listing ideas for field trips this year and any family activities - for example, "apple picking," "planetarium," trail hikes," "The New England Aquarium," "road trip to Vermont," "Florida trip," etc.

Printables available: Subjects & Goals (blank), Field Trips & Family Activities

 

CONTACTS/CHECK-INS & THE CHILDREN'S CHORES

The above spread features a page for listing my annual reporting to the school system and related events. I write down when I send something in and to whom I spoke, etc. And this info. has truly come in handy before! Last year I got a mid-year call from the school department asking if Crackerjack was still being homeschooled and if so, why hadn't we mailed in his information. After I recovered from my initial shock (heart pounding, lol) I told them we had in fact been homeschooling CJ and all his info had been sent in back in August and - because I had this page to refer to! - I was able to pinpoint exactly when I mailed it and when they received it. (Plus, thanks to "return receipt" I was even able to say who signed for it!)

I also note on this page when we renew our HSLDA membership and local homeschool support group membership.

The form on the right is for assigning family chores. Every year during the first week of homeschooling (and right after "Labor Day") we re-negotiate the children's chores. Here's where I'll write down the results of that family meeting!

Printables available: Contacts & Check-Ins, The Children's Chores (blank)

 

HOMEKEEPING ROUTINE & WEEKEND OFFICE HOURS

With this spread I move from homeschool planning to homekeeping responsibilities. So on the left I have a page for my weekly housekeeping routine and on the right I have my weekend "office hours," during which I get a little planning done (or a lot if things are going well!).

Now do I stick with all of this every week? Well, I wish I could say I did, but honestly, life gets in the way ... but I find having a routine to fall back on is helpful. Just knowing what things should be getting done each day is a start, especially when delegating!

Printables available: My Homekeeping Routine (as above), My Homekeeping Routine (blank), Weekend Office Hours (as above), Weekend Office Hours (blank)

 

MONTHLY CLEANING CALENDAR & SEASONSKEEPING

 

Here on the left I have one more housekeeping form - a place to schedule my chores in such a way that reflects monthly (or occasional) tasks as well as weekly. As I mentioned above, I like to follow a weekly routine in my housekeeping but because not all room tasks need to be completed each week, I split the monthly chores up over a four-week rotation. (You can read more about my housekeeping calendar in a couple of posts from 2015. Here is post one and here is post two.) The fifth row is for noting the occasional tasks (assigned to certain months, for example - March/September: turn and vacuum mattresses). I think this might all make more sense once I get this form filled in - so I will certainly share once I do that

Edited to add ... it's taking me SO long to write this post, I have completed this page as well!

Now I know there's a lot of information on this page, but I swear I'm not really a neat freak. You see ... the point is I'm not. I can easily let months (ahem, years) pass by while ignoring (forgetting) all kinds of household maintenance chores. Some aren't that big a deal but others really do impact the overall condition of our home and possessions. As someone with a lot of plates in the air, I need something like this cleaning calendar that takes an area of the house, breaks down what needs to be done and how often, and then finds a spot in my week for it to (hopefully) happen.

I realize this all seems a little confusing, so will do a separate post on how I use it! :)

On the right is the title page to a section of my planner called, "Seasonskeeping: Our Journey Through the Year." This page features a collage of family pictures reflecting seasonal adventures from the past year. I changed the design of this page after having the planner bound so I had to hand-write the title above the collage. Seasonskeeping is what I call my passion for brainstorming seasonal pleasures and ideas - the various ways I weave each season's goodness into our family's life. Because the collage is quite personal, I created a separate title page with a bit of clipart. (In the event someone wants to use my Seasonskeeping pages!)

Printables available: Monthly Cleaning Calendar, Seasonskeeping Title Page

 

SEASONAL BRAINSTORMING PAGES

Above is an example of one season's spread (Early Autumn), but I have six seasons to share! (I "see" the year in this way - with six rather than four seasons.) On the left I plan to write my "love letter" to the season ... just all the feelings and ideas I get when contemplating a certain time of year. On the right I will create monthly dated lists (1-30/31) for noting events with a little space beneath for general events that don't fall on any particular date (for example, the first frost, full moons, etc.).

Printables available: Deep Winter Note Page & Events Page, Early Spring: Note Page & Events Page, Late Spring: Note Page & Events Page, High Summer: Note Page & Events page, Early Autumn: Note Page & Events Page, Late Autumn: Note Page & Events Page

 

MY THOUGHTS ON SEASONAL LIVING & MONTHLY DIVIDER PAGE

My last Seasonskeeping form is very simply a place where I will jot down my reasons for "keeping the seasons" and why I feel these kinds of activities are vital to our home and homeschooling. That too, is a post for another time as I tend to get pretty wordy when talking about this concept!

Ok, the page on the right is the divider page for my first monthly planning section, and this would be August as you can see. (My planner runs from August 2017 through July, 2018.) I love setting the months apart from each other with such quaint and colorful papers, but adhesive tabs are helpful here, too. At this point I have yet to attach them, but will just as soon as I can locate the little packages I've kept on hand for these types of projects!

Edited to add: I found the tabs!

These fantastic little monthly tabs were made by Avery and I was able to purchase them at Staples for years. The company seems to have stopped making them but there are other options out there. (Here are some in a primary palette.) You could even use blank tabs and just hand-write the months of the year.

Printable available: My Thoughts on Seasonal Living

 

MONTHLY TITLE PAGE

Next comes the title page for the month - and all of these can be found in my original planning sheet post. (Note: I'm not sure if anyone will be wanting to make up this planner for themselves, but I will endeavor to get PDFs with edited 2018 dates just as soon as I can!)

 

MONTH AT A GLANCE CALENDAR

The very next spread is this two-page month @ a glance calendar. This original form is rather plain because I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted to set this up - I only knew that I wanted a two-page spread! I'd already created one-page monthly calendars as part of my original seasonal series, but then came to realize I really need more room for monthly planning. So I came up with this basic spread and just went with it. 

But since the above photo was taken I've added lots of details and seasonal embellishment to my August calendar! So here's how it looks today ...

I found a very pretty washi tape that complements the colors I've used throughout the planner. (In case I didn't mention it, each monthly section is printed in different seasonally-appropriate shades. It's one of my favorite aspects of this planner!) I will use this tape on the left page of each monthly spread, which will help me identify the big calendar spreads. I also used alphabet stickers for the month's title and added a pretty sunflower for a seasonal touch.

As you can see, I had to write in the dates myself because I didn't want to take the time to make up a different version of this spread for each month. I made each calendar block lightly lined with an ecru banner for writing in any events of note. I included six rows in this calendar because some months do need that much space depending on where the first of the month falls ... and I added an eighth column for notes.

I like to use any extra space in my calendar for seasonal inspiration - quotes and poems and such. I write these in cursive with a little colored pencil shading so they stand out and catch my eye. :)

And that's the month at a glance! I have still to set up the rest of the months (adding tape and stickers and quotes). I must get back to the craft store for more decorative goodies!

Printable available: Month @ a Glance Calendar (blank): Left Side, Right Side

 

NATURE CALENDAR & MONTHLY OVERVIEW

If you're familiar with my seasonal planning sheets, then you've seen these before! On the left is the original August calendar I created, which I've decided to use for daily nature notes. (See below.) The page on the right is the monthly overview.

(I like how low-key this nature "journal" is ... there's only room for a few brief notes, and that seems easy enough to do every day. I think I'll enjoy looking back at weather patterns and the unfolding nature events of each season!)

Printables available: All planning sheets including the ones in this spread can be found here. 

 

THE WEEKLY SPREAD

And here we have what will be the meat of the planner - the weekly planning sheets I've made up for the year!

The sheet above is for this current week's spread - before I really had written very much in it. I use this spread to write down my "big picture" for the week ahead, and so on the left side I have room for jotting down what we need to do, any home and garden tasks, our dinner menus, and how I'll weave the seasonal theme of the week into our week. And on the right-hand side of the spread I have an agenda for the week with space to plan lessons. (Note, when I make up the weekly sheets for 2018 I will include a version of this page that labels the right-hand column "Notes" instead of Student Goals. This should make it more useful to someone who doesn't homeschool!)

Here is the week as I filled it out over the weekend ...

And here it is as of Wednesday (two days ago) ...

As you can see, I've added a few things - including a monthly reminder sheet for my boys' goals. I used a sheet of my "August" notepad (designed by Susan Branch) for these notes and as it wasn't adhesive, I used a piece of washi tape to adhere it to the top of the page. (Here is a link to these pads at the Susan Branch website, but I believe they are sold for less at Barnes & Noble. Look in the bargain aisles near the front of the store.) On this "August" sheet I have written goals for my three younger boys along with some notes for our Celtic Tree month study. I just lift the sheet to see my pre-k post-its and other lesson plans underneath.

Here's a close up of my "Crafts & Comforts" corner ...

In this box I list the activities I've planned for our seasonal theme - in this week's case, "Bats at Dusk." Most of these are geared toward the younger two boys but I have little stars next to those activities that the whole family can enjoy. Will we get around to all of these ideas? Not on your life, lol! But I love planning for these kinds of activities and tuck away the ones we don't get to for next year. :)

Here it is on last week's spread ...

Printables available: All planning sheets including the ones in this spread can be found here.

 

MONTHLY REVIEW & EVENT PLANNING

 

At the end of every month I have a review page - I use it for tracking monthly expenses and jotting down a summary of our homeschooling. On the right is a monthly event planning page - for August that is "Back to School" planning.

Every month has at least one event planning sheet, and sometimes more. These are events and ideas that need a little more planning than I can fit in just a weekly spread. They don't represent every holiday or feast day - there wouldn't be room! - but the ones that we tend to focus on each year. I make them up in colors that match the monthly palette, natch. :)

So here is a list of all my "extra" monthly event planning pages. (Note: I placed an * next to the ones I make double-sided in my planner.)

AUGUST:

Back to School*

 

SEPTEMBER:

Autumn Equinox

Michaelmas Day

 

OCTOBER:

All Hallow's Eve*

 

NOVEMBER:

Our Gratitude Project

Martinmas Day

Thanksgiving Planner (this is a multi-page planner, something I shared last year - it takes a bit to upload!)

 

DECEMBER:

The Winter Solstice

Preparing Our Hearts (& Homes) for Winter

Celebrating Advent & Christmas (another multi-page planner from last year - the dates are a little off!)

 

JANUARY:

Happy New Year!

Birthday Journal (my birthday happens to fall in January but if you'd like a birthday journal page in a different month's palette, just let me know - easy enough to do!)

 

FEBRUARY:

St. Valentine's Day

Honoring Lincoln & Washington

Lenten Planning*

 

MARCH: 

The Vernal Equinox

Holy Week

Easter Sunday*

 

APRIL:

Spring Awakens

Honoring Mother Earth

Spring Cleaning*

 

MAY:

Mother's Day

Ascension Day & Pentecost Sunday

Garden Plans*

 

JUNE:

Father's Day

Summer Plans & Goals

Midsummer's Eve

Midsummer's Day

 

JULY:

America the Beautiful

 

YEAR END REVIEW & FUTURE PLANNING

 

My very last page is a "Year End Review" (actually two-sided) ... and though I meant to create month-at-a-glance calendars for August 2018 through January 2019 ... well, I plum forgot! So I placed these sticky notes here instead where I can jot down appointments and events as they come up. (For example, if I learn of a publication date for a favorite author's new release or anticipated movie, or if I make an annual exam appt.)

Printables available: Year End Review, Month @ a Glance Calendar (blank): Left Side, Right Side

 

 FINAL PRODUCT!

 

All printed, all bound, all tabbed and ready to go! I am just loving my homemade planner so far! I truly enjoy working in it - the pages are smooth and pretty (to my taste, anyway!). The feel of the planner is sturdy but easy to flip around as needed. I am really so pleased with my latest "diy" attempt! 

Please feel free to print off any of the PDFs I've linked here and please let me know if you have any questions. As I mentioned, I will post updated planning sheets (corresponding with 2018 dates) very soon! (My goal is within the next week.) I will also compose a separate post with just the planner links - no need to read through all my babble if you're interested in just printing this planner! I'll pin that over on my sidebar for easy reference.

Also, I will follow up on several of these planning sheets with more of my thoughts and ideas. I would love to know if there are certain areas you'd like me to expand upon and ... if you decide to print and bind something from these sheets, please let me know! My next idea is to create a guide (of sorts) to go along with these sheets - in what form I'm not sure yet - but this would be something that shares how I use the sheets to infuse our family life with the joy of the seasons. (Scroll back to that Seasonskeeping title page collage - this is what I'm talking about!) 

Oh, and one more thing! I ALSO hope to post a little video with a tour of this planner and how I'm using it. Not that I didn't give you quite the peek in this post but I think if I can just chat a little about it and flip through the pages that might help me explain it a little better. Or leave you all a little more confused, lol - so we shall see!

But for now I will (finally!) let you all go. Thank you all for your support and kind encouragement ... I know many of you were waiting so patiently for this post, and I kept teasing you on Facebook and Instagram. (Speaking of which, do follow me on either or both if you have accounts ... I tend to post there almost daily!) I will get those follow up posts up just as soon as I can, the first being those PDFs with updated 2018 dates. I apologize that I don't have them ready for you just yet - I just need to proof them and save them as PDFs - but I wanted to get this post up the very MOMENT it was ready! And I hope you enjoyed!

I also hope you all enjoy this lovely, summery Friday ... I wish you and yours well and I will see you all here again very soon!

My August Planner ~ with printable links! ❤

Hello my friends - I'm here again! And my goodness - two posts in two days? I'm blogging like it's 2006! ;-)

Well, since July is nearing its end (gasp!) and since I happen to have my August planning sheet "extras" all ready to print, I thought I'd pop in and post some PDF links! I hope you enjoy them and please let me know if any of the links are not working properly or if you notice any typos. And if you're using these sheets I'd love to hear how you like them! :)

Now, I'm making a little change with my planning sheets starting this month ... I've decided to print them up fresh and have them spiral-bound at the copy shop! Up till now I've been keeping them in a three-ring binder that sits on my kitchen counter, filed behind my tabbed monthly calendars. But as much as I love my binder - and I really, really love my binder - it's a bit awkward to write in, and/or tote around, and I find myself not using the sheets as consistently as I'd like simply because I can't work on them comfortably in said beloved binder. Longtime readers know how much I enjoy making up my own planners, so I decided to give it a go! And this one has been SO fun to put together ... I'm attempting to combine my housekeeping and homeschooling and seasonal living needs all in one place. So it's been taking me a bit to pull it all together, but I'm nearly there (hope to hit Staples on Saturday) and I WILL blog ALL about it in an upcoming post!

But for now, on to August ...

***

My August Planner:

August Cover Page

August 2017 Month-at-a-Glance; (liturgical version)

August Overview

7/31-8/6 2017

8/7-8/13 2017

8/14-8/20 2017

8/21-8/27 2017

August Home Learning Worksheet

August Review

***

August Extras:

August Planning Sheet (blank)

Back-to-School Notepage

Savoring Summer's End

In Season: Late Summer Goodness

August Meal Planning

August Dinners at a Glance

Special Days in August

August Nature Notes

 ***

Oh and by the way, along with my planning sheets (which I made up myself using the Pages application on my Mac) I am using some very lovely, vintage-look scrapbooking paper, a different design for each month ...

Above is a preview of several pages in "Children's Hour," a decorative paper pad published by a company called "Graphic 45." I buy them in 12 x 12 pads and cut them down to fit my planner. They're sturdy and thick and so make wonderful dividers. And I have little monthly adhesive tabs to apply to the edges as well ...

But more on all that in an upcoming post!

For now I will let you all go and thank you, as always, for stopping by ... enjoy the rest of your July, everyone!

I'll see you here again very soon ...

Planner Points: Tweaking A Daily Format

Hello my friends and Happy Tuesday! I hope you're all doing well. :)

I was waiting for a sunny day to do this post because my pictures come out so much better when taken in bright, natural light - but the skies above are just not cooperating! Yes, it's drizzly, dreary and downright raw here in New England this week - and this is crazy weather for the end of July! (Crazy that it's the end of July, period, right?!)

Anyhoo! I decided not to wait, but to go ahead and take my pictures, and just get on with this draft! :)

What I wanted to show you all today is how I'm tweaking my Day Designer daily planner with a couple of "hacks." I'm part of a Facebook group that discusses our love for Day Designers (named, rather aptly, We Love Day Designers) and there's a current thread discussing the challenge of keeping track of one's week when using a daily format. So my answer in that thread was a little convoluted (I know, shocker) because I had a whole bunch of thoughts on this topic! And, as I've blogged about before, I do have separate weekly planner(s) that I use in combination with my daily planner. But because most people don't like to use more than one planner at a time, I brainstormed a bit about how to combine these two needs - to tightly focus on one's busy and full day while still keeping an eye on the bigger "weekly" picture.

So here's where I got to indulge my obsession with addiction to passion for post-it notes ...

Post-it notes to the rescue!

First I addressed the concept of the weekly to-do list ... which includes those items that need doing soonish, but are not necessarily tied (yet) to any given day. Generally speaking I make up this list on Sundays by referencing my monthly calendar, the previous week's to-do list as well as my weekend planner (or P.O.W.). What's coming up? What didn't get done? What does the rest of the family have to say on the subject?

To keep that list handy in my Day Designer, I use a very basic, lined post-it note stuck to the bottom of the daily to-do column. When I fill out that column I refer to this list and choose only those tasks that can or should be done TODAY. I move the list along to the next day each morning. (It saves a lot of rewriting!)

Now, as for a weekly agenda - an overview of the week's appointments and activities - I display this small planner on a stand in my kitchen:

A week coming up next month ... I like how it has the whole week on one page!

But for easy reference when using the DD, I again turned to post-it notes!

At the bottom of each DD page there is a stretch of space designed for "notes" and "gratitude," and to be perfectly honest, I don't really use this space very often. So I thought this might be a good spot to create a compact (but highly visible) week at-a-glance!

I used the 1/5 x 2in. size notes in multiple shades so the individual days stand out. (And yes, I have that kind of post-it note collection - lots of colors and sizes on hand at all times!) I carefully layered the notes on top of each other in order to fit as many as I could and together they formed a kind of long adhesive strip. (I trimmed  the last one to size). I was able to comfortably fit six notes here and so the last note represents both Saturday and Sunday. Now, obviously there isn't room for a LOT of planning on these tiny scraps of paper, but certainly enough to list your basic schedule for the week! And the whole strip lifts pretty easily as one piece if you do it with care, and then it can be moved to the next page each new day.

(Full disclosure - I don't actually use this "hack" much since, as I mentioned above, I have other weekly planners as part of my planning repertoire, but I wanted to show this idea here - and over on that FB thread - in case it might be helpful to someone else.) 

But speaking of weekly planners - a topic for my next post - I wanted to give you all a little peek at my current planner project:

Woohoo, love making new planners! :)

So what I'm doing here is combining my weekly planning sheets with some lesson planning forms I've made up along with those pretty vintage scrapbooking papers I love so much - into one big (but hopefully not too big) homeschooling/housekeeping/seasonal living mom planner. :) Once it's complete I'll have it all bound at the copy shop - and while I'm still ironing out a few details (my printer is being a pill), so far I am very happy with how it's turning out!

Ok, getting back to the Day Designer ...

Here's a little time-zoning trick I've taken a liking to ...

One thing I love about the Day Designer is the structure of the daily page. I really appreciate how it breaks down the day into hourly increments with evenly lined spaces. (I feel it keeps my writing a little neater and more uniform!) That said, I also like to think of my day in "chunks" if you will ...

There's super early morning when I'm having my coffee, before (most of) the boys wake up. (5-8)

There are the early morning hours after the boys get up and before Earlybird's therapist arrives. (8-10)

There is the daily therapy session. (10-1)

There is the early and mid afternoon - after the therapist leaves but before we need to wrap up the day. (1-4)

There is the late afternoon - or "tidy time" as I call it when I neaten the house and prepare supper. (4-7)

Then finally there is the time after supper ... but before bed. (7-9)

So what I did here was to use a highlighter to differentiate each time period along the side of the agenda. I then color my task boxes in order to assign each to-do a time zone ...

I do this once I've written out my daily to-dos and it gives me a chance to thoughtfully (and hopefully realistically) choose WHEN I can fit in those tasks. For example, some things are easier to get done when the therapist is here (eg. phone calls) or very early before the boys are awake (laundries, for instance). Some things - like the shell craft for St. James's Day - would be something I'd do with the boys after lunch, whereas registering Crackerjack for an upcoming SAT exam is marked in lavender because Bill will be doing that with him after supper ...

You know, I'm really loving this "hack" because not only is it a great organizational tool, but it adds a bit of pretty color to my Day Designer page, too! (Same with the post-it notes.) Because - true confession - I really haven't caught on with the sticker and washi planner craze, lol! And I know it's all the rage, and it is pretty for sure, but it just seems to take a lot of time and sometimes I think it it looks a little cluttery ... not that that's a real word, lol, but you might know what I mean! With a dash of highlighter and some pastel sticky notes I can add some color (and a bit of cheer) without distracting myself from the bare bones of my timetable and to-dos!

Actually, this page is quite cluttered, lol! But just enough to have purpose, I think ...

Bottom line - I love my Day Designer! My head is lighter and my days are a little more productive because of this neat and versatile planning tool! I love it as it is, but it's fun to tweak it and try to make it as efficient as I can ... hey, anything that let's me indulge my extravagant office supply habit, right? ;-)

Oh! One last thing to mention - wait, make that two - and maybe I've mentioned them before, I can't remember - but I use an old Franklin-Covey system "trick" in my Day Designer by marking each checkbox when there is action on a task. So if I have started or am in the process of doing a task I place a dot in the box and when I complete it I check it off. If I don't complete it, I use an arrow to indicate that I'm moving it forward. I also add a little circled initial next to to tasks that are someone else's responsibility. Bill got a couple on today's list as you can see! :)

Well my friends, I'd best be off now as I'm moving quickly towards that blue zone and we haven't made our shell craft yet! (And the troops are getting restless behind me I can tell!) But I hope you are all doing well and once again, I do apologize that my posting has been so slow lately. I hope to pick up speed soon though and if you visit Facebook or Instagram (or Pinterest for that matter) please do look me up! I post in those places pretty regularly because I can do so fairly quickly (and from my phone). My next blog post should be just a week or so away ... I am going to talk about the DIY planner I showed you above and how I plan a new homeschooling year for my family. As you can imagine I have a LOT to say on those topics!

But for now I wish you well and hope you're all having a nice summer. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones ...

I will see you here again very soon!

My July Planner - with printable links! ❤

Hello my friends, and Happy July! I hope your summer is going swimmingly so far ... :)

I am here today tonight - late as usual, sigh - on the first day of our new month, to share a few printables that hopefully will facilitate some happy July planning! I am also including the original July planning sheets from my January post, and they are followed by several new "extra" sheets which I'm adding to my binder this month. (Fyi, my plan for 2018 is to have ALL the monthly extras ready to go along with the general planning sheets - which, by the way, are also being tweaked! I am toying with the idea of having them bound and so obviously, having all the extras ready at the start of the year would be ideal!)

Anyhoo ... I am going to get on with it now. Here are the PDF links for my July planner - please let me know if you have any trouble opening them or if you spot any glaring typos! I will see you at the bottom of the links for a quick word before I let you go ... :)

***

My July Planner:

July Cover Page

July 2017 Month-at-a-Glance; (liturgical version)

July Overview

6/26-7/2 2017

7/3-7/9 2017

7/10-7/16 2017

7/17-7/23 2017

7/24-7/30 2017

July Home Learning Worksheet

July Review

***

July Extras:

July Meal Planning Ideas

July Dinners at a Glance

In Season this Month

July Holidays

July Feast Days

July Fun: Beach Days!

July Fun: Road Trips!

Exploring July Nature

July Nature Notes

July Planning Sheet (blank)

***

(All the above "extra" links were supposed to be in ocean blue and poppy red - but clearly that didn't happen, lol. Why this is so, I just don't know ... but in the interest of time - and my sanity - I'm not going to try to figure out what's wrong or re-do all the links to make them match. I've gotten this far, I'm just going to keep moving!)

Ok, well. I hope you enjoy all these planning sheets and that your July will be a wonderful month! I am also hoping - so much - to get back to a more frequent posting schedule this summer. Please believe me when I say, I am doing my best to find time to draft and reply and edit and post. Life these days is so full, and SO blessed, and very often, quite tiring! I hope though, to carve out more time in this season of slowness and simplicity for mama's needs. And I DO need to be here and touch base and catch up. I am hoping to do an overhaul of my blog template, for one thing. Those sidelists are ridiculously out of date! I also have in queue a post for early this week - a review of my new Katie Daisy planner. It is - without a doubt - the PRETTIEST planner I've ever seen! So naturally, I couldn't pass it up. ;-) I'll share pics and thoughts and fill you in on how I'll weave this new planner into my overall routine ...

For now though, I wish you all a lovely evening and a refreshing holiday weekend ...

See you all here again soon!

My June Planner - with printable links! ❤

Hello my friends, and Happy Sunday! :)

Can you believe it's June already?! We're nearly to the midpoint of 2017 and the weeks are just flying by - too fast for me to keep up it would seem, since this planner post is several days late!! 😳

Nevertheless, I'm here today to share some "extras" to go along with my June planner pages. (My original post can be found here, with the basic sheets for every week of the year.) I apologize for their tardiness - especially since I know many of you like to plan things ahead. Something I like to do, when I can keep my act together!

Anyhoo, here are my June planning pages as well as some extras, and I do hope you enjoy them! Please let me know if you have any trouble with the PDF links or if you spot any ahem typos ... ;)

***

My June Planner:

June Cover Page

June 2017 at-a-glance calendar (liturgical version here)

June Overview

5/29-6/4 2017

6/5-6/11 2017

6/12-6/18 2017

6/19-6/25 2017

June Home Learning Worksheet

June Review

June Extras:

June Holidays A

June Holidays B

June Nature Explorations

June Nature Notes

In Season: Strawberries

In Season: (blank)

Celebrating the Solstice/Summer Plans 

June Planning Sheet (blank)

 ***

So these are all the pages I have in my binder behind the June monthly tab. May's pages have now been retired and June's are now up front in my monthly planning section. (Sandwiched between my domestic journal and housekeeping tabs.) These pages are somewhat personalized in that, these are the events, activities and themes I'll be weaving into our family's life this month (things that make sense for us in June), but I hope they might be of interest (and/or use) to someone else. I have also included blank planning sheets, in June's seasonal colors, for random events/projects that might come up. I have one with "Bookworm's Graduation Party" written across the top (filled in with RSVPs, a menu plus a cleaning tasks "hit list") and I just used another "blank" sheet this morning to start a note page for "End-of-Year Teacher Gifts." :)

Well my friends, I hope you are all doing well and that we can catch up here again soon! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to read ... I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful new month and many happy days ahead!

See you here again sometime soon ...

My May Planner - with printable links! ❤

Hello my friends, and Happy Weekend! I am popping in today to share some "extras" to go along with my May planner pages. (Original post found here, with the basic sheets for every week of the year.) I'm a little behind this month with my month-ahead planning ... May really came up fast! (Or so it seemed.) So I'm just now getting the May calendar filled out, as well as the overview page, and looking over the upcoming weeks ...

What are my seasonal themes?

What topics are we studying?

What special events are coming up for our family? 

Thankfully I already had the basic May planning sheets printed and stored in my binder. But now I'm adding in these extra pages - providing myself space for a little seasonal joy and event planning. The trick of course it to remember to USE the sheets once they're all printed out and filled in and stashed so neatly behind that May calendar tab ... I confess I have varying degrees of success with that endeavor, depending on how well I stick to my panning routine!

So I hope you enjoy them ... and please let me know if you have any trouble with the PDF links or - heaven forbid! - you spot any typos. 😉

My May Planner:

May Cover Page

May 2017 Month-at-a-Glance (here's the liturgical version)

May Overview

5/1-5/7/2017

5/8-5/14/2017

5/15-5/21/2017

5/22-5/28/2017

May Home Learning Worksheet

May Review

May Extras:

May is for Mothers

Planning This Year's Garden (general notes)

Planning This Year's Garden (projects, plans)

May Nature

In Season: Rhubarb

In Season: (blank)

May Holidays

May Faith & Family

May Planning (blank page)

A couple of notes:

I included my "rhubarb" page above because that's what is "in season" this month for us in New England - but because it might be different for you, I shared an "In Season" page with space for you to write in your own fruit/herb/vegetable. I also included a blank planning page done in May's seasonal colors so you can add sheets for any of your own special events this month. I have a few myself:

Bookworm's Commencement

Little Bear's 4th Birthday

Crackerjack's Prom

I just printed out the blank pages and wrote these titles at the top. It will be a busy month ahead, for sure! My hope is that by keeping all these planning pages in my binder - and my binder on my kitchen counter (aka command center) - then I will have a more reasonable hope of keeping on top of all the things I NEED to get done while still including all the things I WANT to do ... those special joys that only May has to offer!

Well everyone, I will be off now, but I do hope you are all having a nice weekend and enjoying these last days of April. What is like where you live today? Here in Massachusetts it is sunny and quite warm - 81° at 4 p.m.! Everything is popping - the flowering shrubs and trees, the lawn, the leaves ...

It's such a special time of year!

So take care of yourselves and your loved ones, my friends ... see you here again very soon!

Weekend Office Hours: a printable aganda

Hello and Happy Monday, everyone! Today I'm here to share another planning printable with you! This is just something I made up for myself because I'm always looking for ways to keep on track - plus, I just love making printables! This agenda is based on my own needs, so it's kind of personalized and therefore might not be of any interest or use to you - still, I'm sharing it here anyway! Just in case it might be a help to you as you consider your own weekly planning. If it's something you'd like to print out and try for yourself, feel free to click on the link below ...

 ❤ Weekend Office Hours Agenda ❤

Ok, a little about this printable - it's basically a gussied-up checklist of weekly planning tasks. Nothing new or novel here - I've blogged about every aspect of this list I think - and many a time before! - but I had fun pulling these planning points together and making them look pretty. As you all know, I have a real soft spot for vintage clipart, tidy checklists and a papyrus font!

So these are the tasks I try to accomplish in hopes of getting a good start on the new week, putting the old week to pasture and just generally keeping up with the many spinning plates over my head. For me, it's most convenient to hold "office hours" over the weekend when Bill is home to help with the kids - however, a few of these tasks are in fact done PRE-weekend, because some information is good to know before I run Saturday errands. So, for example, I try to draw up a menu plan and fill out my "crafts and comforts" box (both are found on my weekly planning sheet) well before Saturday morning ... this way I can buy appropriate ingredients and materials. I don't like to shop mid-week if I don't have to.

And of course having our family "POW" (Plan o' the Weekend) sketched out before Friday night is ideal! Sometimes though I work up that menu plan and craft list and even the POW itself in the wee, promise-filled, coffee-fueled hours of Saturday morning. You know, those golden hours when it ALL seems so do-able? ;) 

And speaking of DOing ... I pretty much never do all the things on this agenda! But just having them listed out in front of me keeps my brain "in the loop" and helps me decide which tasks are must-dos and which can be put off till next week (or whenever). I think it also takes the edge off that nagging feeling of "am I forgetting something?" I can even use a highlighter at the end of the weekend to make note of the tasks that still need addressing. Like, if I didn't review my journal or organize receipts, comb through my texts or make library requests, then come Monday I'm aware of the areas in which I'm behind. I may fit them in as I can through the week, or decide to just catch up next weekend.

At the top of the task list I placed a planning block for Saturday and Sunday (nestled in between is that aforementioned clipart - found on Pinterest and, to the best of my knowledge, free for personal use). If I'm going to fit in weekend "planning time" then it's best to know what all else is going on, and when.

Ok, so that's my agenda in a nutshell!

(The nifty "Layout" app on my phone allowed me make the above photo collage! Pictured clockwise from top left - lesson planner, April's "extra" planning sheets, April month-at-a-glance calendar, POW notebook, weekly file folders.)

Let me know if you have any questions or if the link doesn't work right for you. I'm always happy to follow-up with a more detailed post!

But for now I'll wrap up and be on my way - to the kitchen actually, because it's nearly 6 p.m. and high time to get supper started! I wish you all a pleasant evening and will see you here again very soon ...

My April Planner - with printable links! ❤

Hello my friends, and Happy Friday! Well, as usual I'm here with but a few hours to spare, sharing some "extras" for your April planning! These pages can certainly be used on their own, but I've color-coordinated them with my monthly planning sheets linked below. (You can find all the planning sheets for 2017 here in this post. I'm adding extra pages as I can - a little additional planning for all those seasonal comforts and joys ... and challenges!)

Ok, so here we go - but while we're at it, we're going to completely IGNORE the white stuff falling steadily - and rather annoyingly - outside my window. It's time to turn our thoughts to spring things ...

April Cover Page

April Month at a Glance (liturgical version here)

April Overview

4/3-4/9

4/10-4/16

4/17-4/23

4/24-4/30

April Home Learning Sheet

April Review

April Extras:

Natural Spring Cleaning

Spring Yard Work

April's Special Days

April's Seasonal Themes

Easter Prep A

Easter Prep B

Easter Sunday: Planning

Easter Sunday: Remembering

Blank April Planning Page

❤

I'll be working on filling out these pages during my weekend office hours and in a future post will share my own notes and ideas on the above topics. But speaking of "office hours," that PDF should be coming next ...

Sorry I couldn't have that ready to share in this post, but the good news is, it IS all done and ready to print so it should only be another couple of days. I'm trying to add some notes on each "agenda item" so the post is taking me a bit longer than I originally anticipated. (Doesn't everything though, lol?)

Spring might be off to a slow start around here, but I just love the shades of April...

Sooner or later we'll see some of that color around here, I have faith. ❤ The trees are bursting with buds and the forsythia is ready to bloom and the daffodils are poking up through the ground - hopefully though they'll be wise enough to wait until this latest bout of snow melts under the spring sunshine. If and when that sunshine ever returns! (Looking like Sunday according to my weather app!)

Well my friends, I will let you go now, but as always I thank you for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend and I will see you here again very soon!