Resolution Recap: August?...Can we Skip August?

I honestly thought about not even writing a recap this month! In some ways I feel like I accomplished nothing at all in August, but as I sit here thinking back on it, I was hyper focused on a few things and everything else fell by the wayside. That happens, right?

August was a busy month at work. We moved back into our regular offices and had lots of stuff to unpack and routines to get back to. I have six new students at work this year, so I had preparation before they arrived and then a crazy week of training when they came back to campus. We do our training during the students' regular shifts, so I often feel like I am in six places at once, trying to remember what I've said to which students. Luckily I've given them all a checklist so they can keep track of me! It works really well, so I'm glad I had that idea. I barely sat down at all last week and the times I did sit down I was so scatterbrained and tired, I don't think I accomplished much.

At home, we had the last two weeks of summer camps and then the obvious back-to-school chaos going on. We've got three kids in three different school this year. It means I'm juggling three different calendars, three different lunch menus and three different sets of procedures. I've gotten myself some crates for organizing papers we want to keep and a binder for keeping track of notes and important documents, but it's a matter of training myself to start using them.

So that I don't look at the month of August as a complete failure, I would like to take a moment to brag about the two things that did go well in August:
Firstly, I read a great article about teaching your kids to pray. It really hit home with me because, while my kids are good at their rote prayers, I've often noticed that they don't know how to create a spontaneous prayer. We've been using the ACTS method of prayer as part of our bedtime routines and the kids are starting to pick up on the parts. I don't make them each say something for each part, but I do leave long moments of silence to encourage them if they want to say something.

We've also been doing really well with our timers and routines in the mornings and evenings. I changed the songs on the iPods to get their attention and mornings haven't been as bad as I had expected. We are getting up a full hour early that last year (the kids now get up at the same time as Ken and I do). The boys have never had an issue getting up early. Now Frances takes a shower in the morning and that seems to get her moving a little better.

In summary: August was BUSY!! I'm looking forward to keeping our routines going and having more time to get my house back in shape and work on other goals.

What have you been accomplishing lately?