Written by Jenn, Contributing Writer

Several months ago, I came across a few blog posts and videos explaining how to set up a household notebook.  While hardly revolutionary, I had never heard of such a thing. Thank you, interwebs.

Since then, I have adopted my own version and don’t know how I’d function without it.  Nearly every piece of paper I regularly need or receive can be contained in my cute little binder from Target.

It helps me live more intentionally, be more organized, and collect less clutter.

I also like that:

• Important receipts don’t get lost.

• Meal plans and ideas are easily found.

• Grocery lists and related food documents (co-op info, etc.) are all in one place.

• I stay on budget better.

• I’m more focused and intentional in my house projects.

• Random kids’ papers have a home.

• My random papers have a home.

It did take some time to set up, but the initial investment was totally worth it.  I refer to it daily, even if it’s just to see what’s for dinner or to drop in a receipt.

Occasionally, I’ll clean out anything that’s dated or needs to be stored elsewhere (kids’ coloring pages pile up after a while).  But generally, my notebook is not something that adds to my workload; rather, it makes my life way easier.

Everyone will likely have different preferences about categories and format.  Here’s what has worked for me so far:

My Household Notebook

Materials:

• 1 Three-ring binder (mine is from Target), cute factor preferred

• Avery Pocket Tab Dividers (These are my absolute favorite).

• Several plastic sheet protectors for important documents

Categories:

Home :: This section contains spring cleaning lists, house project ideas, Christmas and birthday ideas, pet information, and any documents or loose items related to current house projects (swatches, etc.).

I use this section the most on Sunday evenings when I check the house project list to see what I might work on during the week.  I’m usually in the midst of at least a couple of projects and the master list helps me prioritize.

Budget :: This holds my monthly budget spreadsheet (see above), where I attempt to document what I’ve spend each week for groceries and miscellaneous items.  We use a cash envelope system for one area of our budget (where we have the least self-control) but use a credit card for the rest.

Basically, I keep my receipts in the pocket of the tab divider and, about once a week, enter the amounts I’ve spent in the different categories on the printed spreadsheet.  Having this information readily available helps keep me on budget.

Yes, using cash for everything would save me this step.  But we don’t keep a balance on our credit cards and cash doesn’t earn you airline miles .

I also make a short list of anticipated expenses for the month—irregular things like family pics, garden supplies, an upcoming road trip, etc. I don’t (and couldn’t) account for everything ahead of time, but the list helps me prioritize and be more intentional in my spending.

Meals :: This section holds my monthly meal calendar. I only plan for dinners, about two weeks at a time.  I refer to my List Plan It seasonal lists of meals when I’m meal planning—I got mine with Stephanie Langford’s Plan it Don’t Panic eBook (highly recommend) but you could also get them here.

Grocery :: This holds any document related to food or food co-ops I’m in—my crazy cost-comparing spreadsheets, Dirty Dozen list, grocery checklist (another List Plan It favorite), etc.

Kids :: This contains the babysitting info sheet for sitters, kids’ favorite works of art, letters from Grammie, medical papers, and any other kid-related bits.

Personal ::  I admit, I labeled this section “Wifey.” That’s me.

This is dedicated to anything of personal interest that is unrelated to blogging or home decor (I have other binders for those).

Right now, it holds batik bookmarks from our friends in Malaysia, a pamphlet on a local nature preserve, Simple Mom’s reflection questions for New Year’s Eve, a muscle testing info sheet, and some favorite articles on parenting and prayer.  And this fantastic list from Ann Voskamp.

In case you were interested.

So, there it is.  Again, nothing revolutionary, but a great help to me in this season of life.

Do you use a household notebook?  If so, how does it work?

The post What’s So Great About a Household Notebook appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

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Written by Jenn, Contributing Writer

As the summer heat dies down and hints of fall are in the air, exploring the outdoors with the littles again becomes one of my favorite activities. The room to run and endless supply of objects to investigate always makes for a enjoyable outing.

In a beloved book on education, the author remarks that as we explore the natural world, “we are observing God’s handiwork. And it is spine-chillingly wonderful.”

This is the perspective I want to cultivate in my children, even if at one and three they simply enjoy digging in the dirt, picking flowers, and shouting about seeing the moon. “IT’S THE MOON, MOMMY! THE MOON! LOOK–IT’S SO BIG!”

Studying in greater depth will come later; for now I will do as 19th century British educator Charlotte Mason would suggest and just “involve them directly with the world, letting them enjoy, wonder, and question.”

With all of this in mind, we take our fair share of nature walks. Recently, I got all Charlotte Mason and decided we needed to preserve the bounty collected on these trips.

Making a real nature notebook might be a bit beyond my 3 ½ year old. But as I enjoy this sort of thing as much or more than her, I’m willing to endure a little glue mess and broken pressed flowers in the name of identifying and appreciating the flora in our little neck of the woods.

Frankly, I could probably do to say “yes” to a little more mess in our lives anyway. Which is why I encouraged the use of glitter in decorating our nature journal.

Making a Nature Notebook

Supplies:

Notebook with unlined pages
Paper towels
Heavy books
Basic Elmer’s glue or wood glue
Colored pencils/pens/crayons
Bits of nature

How To

1.) Go on a nature walk. Take it slow. Keep your eyes wide open.

City-dweller with not much nature to speak of? Find a pretty park or take a short drive to find a little more green space. You don’t need expansive forests and fields of flowers to make it an enjoyable experience of creation.

I had to force myself to slow down and let my daughter pick dandelion after dandelion. “LOOK MOMMY! ANOTHER YELLOW FLOWER! SO PRETTY!” What can I say? She has a zest for life.

2.) Point out all the plants and creatures.

Overlook the construction, stoplights, cars, and houses.  Look for what man didn’t create.

Trees, rocks, flowers, grasses, bugs, and small critters abounded. We threw rocks in the stream and ran squealing from hoards of grasshoppers in the tall prairie grasses.

3.) Let the littles pick their favorite flowers and leaves.

Ask them questions about what they see and help them find adjectives to describe their treasures.

Yes, that one has red berries. Yes, so pretty. No, don’t eat them. Or give them to your brother. I know he wants them, but he’ll just eat them/put them up his nose. Actually, it’s probably best that you don’t touch them. Here, give it to Mommy.

3.) Bring the bounty home to press.

Put the flowers and leaves between paper towels and carefully place them between the pages of a large book. Stack more books, canned goods, hand weights, etc. on top.

4.) Wait a few days for everything to flatten and dry.

I’ve read that it can take up to a few weeks for flowers to completely dry (and that you should change out the paper towels every few days), but our flowers were small and starting to dry out in the late summer heat anyway. It only took a couple days for them to flatten and dry.

5.) In the meantime, decorate a notebook.

I covered the front of ours so that my little big girl would have blank slate to decorate.

This is where I used glitter as a tool to combat my fear of mess. It was only somewhat effective.

6.) Glue the flowers and leaves into the notebook.

I advise using small drops of glue so you can do more pages at a time. We followed the “more is always better” philosophy on page one and had to wait a good hour to continue. The final results weren’t quite as lovely as these, but they served our purposes just fine.

7.) Identify and label each flower/leaf.

We picked up this helpful book from the library to guide us. But, being committed to accurate flower identification, I may also have consulted to internet to confirm my guesses.

8.) For further study:

Older kids or even eager young ones could write (or dictate) descriptions of their findings or a short poem about what they saw on their walk. I love Kristen’s free printable nature journal pages and accompanying poetry lesson idea.

What are your favorite outdoor activities now that summer is fading?

*this post is linked to: Encourage One Another, Titus 2sdays, and WFMW*

The post Nature Notebook for Kids appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

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