First of all, I took my 3 kids to my oldest’s basketball game by myself because my husband had a church deal this morning. I took pictures of the games with the 2 two years olds climbing all over me while having to text people to answer questions about building HVAC info for work. That right there was hustle!!

Then today I have done a ton if laundry.

Oh, and I sold a crib mattress. Woohoo!!

My husband went to the store this evening so I went ahead and fed the kids dinner. When he came home, he made me a wonderful surprise dinner of steak, salad, edamame and bread. It was awesome!

Hustle on, friends!

Today’s assignment was to cut your goal for the month in half. My goal was to make a book each for my twins. I guess I could have just made one book for them to share, but I wanted them to have their own. And I couldn’t hardly make one for one kid and make the other wait. Well, I guess I could, but then I’d feel bad.

I finished both books tonight and have sent them off to be printed!

I feel so good that this goal is done! In less than 10 days!

Now I’ll start brainstorming ideas for more books and working on other things I wanted to do this year.

Hustle, hustle!

After work today, I ran an errand with all 3 kids.  Let me tell you!  That takes hustle!

Then we came home, got Caleb to do homework, made homemade chili, and fed everyone.  All while doing that, I was putting together my new picture boards that I wanted to hang on our freshly painted hall.  So, I got them ready and then hung them up on the wall after dinner.  I love them!

Then I made a bracelet with Caleb, got the kids to bed and started working on the books for the kids some more.  I’m not done, but I’m tired.

Today’s assignment is to stay WHO you are going to have help keep you accountable during these 30 days.  I have many friends who are reading this blog who are asking me about my hustle, so you are the ones I pick!  It’s fun keeping track on the blog what goes on during this time period.  I won’t do this everyday this year obviously, but it will be fun at the end of this month to look back and see what all I got done and remember along the way!

Hustle!

Today’s hustle included working more on the books I am putting together.

Then my mom came over tonight and we made a stepping stone with one of the kids’ handprints. We’ll do another one another night. Too cold and messy to do two tonight.

Then mom helped me paint some more upstairs. She is totally getting super mom points!!

WHERE I will be working on books is at home. On the couch. I love that couch!

The hustle is fun!

It’s amazing how I have wanted to do something for years, but I didn’t because I thought it would take too much time.  But then in the course of about an hour today, I did it!  What else have I not done and put off till later because I figure it’s going to take me a ton of time?  I’m a firm believer after today that all you have to do is decide to start something, and it’ll be done before you know it!

The kids and I had to miss church this morning because we didn’t want to possibly infect others with the flu even though everyone here is now feeling much better.  So, I fed the kids breakfast and then put clothes on them, fixed Sadie’s hair, and we had a photo session for the books that I wanted to make for the twins.  The kids actually did a really great job of participating for the pictures, and they thought it was really fun because I had a list of things that I wanted them to do.  They didn’t have to stick with each activity very long before the next one, so they thought it was awesome!

Tomorrow is my husband’s first day at his new work, so I wanted to do something kind of special for him.  He was at church this morning, so while he was gone, I printed encouraging signs and had the kids hang them all around the house.  The kids thought that was super fun too, so that worked out well!  And then they all decided that they would draw some signs for daddy on their own.  Then when he came home, they were all really excited about the signs and wanted to show them all to him.

After I finished this, I worked on putting together the books for the twins that we had taken pictures for.  I got Luke’s book ready.  Then I had to go to the hospital to see a friend and then go to a movie with other friends.  After the movie, I went to the grocery store to get things we needed before everyone is back to school and work tomorrow.  Then I came home, put up the groceries, helped get the kids to bed and then put together Sadie’s book.  Now I’ll be able to print the books tomorrow and get them all ready to give the kids!

I’m excited that I got so much done today, but especially that I actually started the books and got them ready to print all in the same day!  Now I’m motivated to do more!  And my plan is wait until I have at least a few more books done before I start seriously looking for publishing options.

And I’m super excited that it’s only Day 5, and I’ve gotten so much done already!  I’ve thought for years that there is so much in life that I want to do that I will not have the time to do.  But after these 5 days, I figure if I hustle as much as I can, I may fly through my list of dreams and get to dream new dreams!

Today’s assignment was to write down WHEN you were going to work on your goal.  For me, that was today!  My goal was to at least put together one book this month.  I did two today.  And now I’m stoked about doing more!

Bring on the hustle!

Work was awesome again today! Got a ton done.

Then my afternoon hustle got ransacked by the flu. But it became a whole new kind of hustle. I took 2 kids to the doctor (3 actually. One wasn’t sick.). Went to drop off prescriptions. Made a rainbow loom bracelet for my son. Picked up prescriptions. Made dinner. Cleaned the kitchen. Gave sick kid a bath. Etc.

Here’s my HOW: take pictures of the kids doing some of their favorite things, put them in a document with a story about their favorite things then figure out a way to print and bind them. Also look into publishing options.

I hope to get started on this this weekend since we are not going anywhere due to the flu!

Ready, set, hustle!!

I joined Jon Acuff’s 30 Days of Hustle group, and I’m going to work as hard as I can for the next 30 days.

My main goal for the group is to write children’s books for my kids.  I’ve wanted to write simple, easy to read books for my kiddos for years but have never done it.  This group is going to be my way of getting this goal accomplished.

Today was Day 1.  Here’s what I did (that does not relate in any way, shape or form to writing children’s books, but hey, I feel better about myself for getting this stuff accomplished that’s been hanging over my head for a long time.):

• Get my New Years cards ready to mail out since I didn’t get Christmas cards done…or NY’s cards out on time.  Oops! 🙂
• Laundry folded and put up.  This sounds simple, but trust me, it’s not!  I loathe putting up clothes!  🙂
• Chris painted our hall & stairway which required me to stand there and look at it a lot…and go to Home Depot once
• I went through all of Luke’s clothes, bagged up the stuff that is too small and pulled out all of the bigger sizes.  Not a small job!
• I went through my closet and bagged up stuff that I am wanting to get rid of.
• I bought wooden plaques a long time ago to paint and then mount pictures on to put on our stairwell.  Since Chris was painting the stairwell, I wanted to get this project done ASAP too!
• I went to the grocery store
• I ordered pizza for dinner and went and picked it up.  Hey, it’s New Year’s Day.  Time to celebrate!
• And also in celebrating mode, the twins and I went to Dairy Queen with my parents and my brother and his kids. Fun!

So, like I said, none of this has to do with writing children’s books, but I got a ton of stuff done and I was totally hustling, so I feel really good about the day!

I would appreciate any encouragement as I go through these 30 days.  I’m excited about what’s going to happen!

A few other goals that I have for this year:

• Try my hand at painting art
• Learn to sew – One project  -DONE!
• Paint my kitchen cabinets – DONE!
• Put together family photo albums from over the years
• Get more organized overall
• Write my certification paper