It’s that time again! Today starts a new month so this post is a recap of my August goals and a description of my September goals. So here’s a peek at my Powersheets tending list items.I was really thankful to have my Powersheets in August because it was a bit of a rough month. I was worried for friends in Charlottesville, worried for friends in Houston, and the kids and I caught a nasty bug that laid us out flat for about a week. It would be easy to throw my hands up and call the month a loss or to think I didn’t accomplish anything but when I look back, there WAS progress.

AUGUST MONTHLY GOALS:
*Date Night: We had some fun memories this month and particularly enjoyed our date to the Musical Instrument Museum!
*Establish New Routines: There was not as much progress as I hoped on this goal and it was a great reminder that if you list something vague it is less likely to get done. I’ve been a bit more specific about routines for September so hopefully that progress will become more consistent this next month.
*Reassess Budget/Debt: One routine that WAS really successful was checking in with where we were with our budget throughout the month and recording every single transaction so we could recognize what we are forgetting to budget for or how even going over a few dollars in several categories can really start to add up.
*Sell/Donate/Simplify: A little progress here but lots more to do.
*Open my heart and my home: We hosted a few things at our house this month and I’m still working on changing my attitude. I am looking forward to continuing to love on my house and invite my friends and family into it!
*Start fall garden:I’ll post a picture of the progress so far. I’m thrilled with it and you can see such a difference so quickly! If you want a before shot and more information on the garden, check out  this post!)

*Self care/reflection: I could have done better with this but getting sick this month monopolized my self-care time with just getting better!

AUGUST WEEKLY GOALS:
*1 Hour on my daughter’s baby book: It was probably more like 30-40 minutes each week, but I made some progress. I’m not all caught up but I do have a lot more journaling done than I did a month ago!
*Meal plan/cut grocery spending: Thanks to using up staples in our pantry, we had a staggeringly low grocery bill this month so this goal was a huge success. We were really stretching things by the end of the month though so this pushed our creativity and resourcefulness. Other bonus of this goal was that our pantry and fridge were empty enough by the end of the month to easily take what little was left and give a good cleaning to these areas!
*Back to blogging: It’s been great to be back to regular posting. I hope you’ve enjoyed it too!
*Keep creating/start holiday brainstorming: Some weeks were better than others for this. I made a few baby shower gifts I’m excited to give in the next few months but I wasn’t quite ready to get my head around holiday stuff so hopefully next month!
*Express Gratitude/RAK: lots of cards and lots of thankfulness. Lots of little moments that feel too small to call out specifically but I hope made a difference in someone’s day. The biggest win here was a small shift in my daily attitudes.

AUGUST DAILY GOALS:
*No packaged food: Definitely eye opening how much I rely on this. Yes, I did cave on the ice cream situation several times… and I don’t regret it… but overall I chose better choices for breakfast when granola bars were out of the picture and I’m hoping to stay mindful of these food choices in the future!
*Yoga:  Definitely did not do this every single day, but definitely DID do yoga more days than not and I’m considering that a big win. I can feel myself getting stronger again and the restorative classes have been so so helpful with the mama stress.
*Coffee & Jesus: I wrote a whole blog post on this if you want more details. My favorite new part of my daily routine and the only daily task I actually did daily.
*Phone free time: This goal didn’t go well for me because it was too vague. I’m trying it again with a bit more specificity next month.
*Solo time with kids: This happened more than it didn’t. I’ve looked at it as the bright side to my children not napping at the same time…

September is all about setting up some new habits and routines before the rush of the holiday season creeps in! I’m already getting giddy thinking about the family memories to be had with my daughter’s first Halloween and first Christmas season, so I really want to have a month that focuses on some basics and gets us ready for the rush of things to come.

SEPTEMBER MONTHLY GOALS:
*Clean back porch, Tend Garden, Get Ready for Fall!: In continuing with opening our home more, I want to get our backyard ready to have people over to enjoy it with us. This means clearing out old toys, cleaning up toys and our bbq which got a good bout of dirt thanks to the summer monsoons, continuing to take care of our garden, and putting together our fire pit we’ve had sitting in the garage for way too long!
*Project Life Catch Up: I’ve fallen way behind on our family album for the year so I want to play catch up this month before I start forgetting some of the details around these memories.
*Celebrate Hubby’s Birthday!: Looking forward to making a whole new year of memories with my love.
*Transition kids’ clothes, continue simplifying: Mostly a carry over from last month, but I also need to pack up newborn clothes and start bringing out fall/winter clothing for my son.
*Read 3 Books: At least one fiction and one nonfiction. I’m not counting that I also plan to re-read Cultivate!

*Plan for Holidays: I want to have discussions about how much we want to do, what big events we want to commit to, and where we’ll be spending major holidays so we at least have an outline for the month to come.
*Date Night: No clue what this month’s date will be like, but whatever it is I’m looking forward to it!

SEPTEMBER WEEKLY GOALS:
*Budget Check-in: I want to start making this a habit so hopefully we won’t have to think about it too much and also I think it will become easier and faster the more we do it! It’s also really easy to slip into making one mistake overspending on something and then want to throw the whole thing out the window and weekly check ins help with being realistic and accountable.
*Sabbath & Self-Care: Aside from mass, we want to embrace the time of REST each week. I also want to make sure I’m doing something positive for myself so I can recharge. Doesn’t have to be on Sunday with the sabbath stuff, can be any day of the week to steal a little bit of time.
*Create Something: maybe for my craft selling, maybe for gifts (I have a lot of celebrations this month! lots of birthdays and babies to rejoice over!), maybe for fun. Just want to keep the creative juices flowing!
*Date with the kiddos: Again, just intentional time with them that is out of the ordinary routine. Especially excited that it will hopefully be park weather again by the end of the month (PLEASE?!)

SEPTEMBER DAILY GOALS:
*Morning Routine: Unlike the vague “establish new routines” last month I have a whole little chart with my morning routine up now. It includes, of course, “coffee and Jesus” time as well as making the bed, stretching, completing my basic hygiene routine before noon (sometimes this is REALLY hard y’all. especially if kids won’t let you alone in the restroom!), and checking in with my planner to see what the day has in store.
*Compliment Hubby: It’s his birthday month and I want him to feel extra loved each day!
*Daily Tidy: I’m so tired at the end of each day I don’t want to think about cleaning… but I’m curious how different our mornings would feel if I just took 10-15 minutes each day to do SOMETHING extra before reading, relaxing, or Netflixing.
*Social Media Free Morning: I wrote above that my phone free time wasn’t specific enough so I’m making myself not use it the first few hours of the day aside from reading my daily devotional. I’m looking forward to how this goal might make our mornings more productive.

While not listed as primary goals for the month, I’m also hoping to get a rhythm going with my kids, and get back to other household routines we had before baby2 entered our life! Wish me luck 🙂