Tentative Schedule for 2012

Okay, sorry I've kind of been AWOL on this for a while! January was kind of a crazy month with Luke deciding sleep was for squares, etc. etc. I'm glad we got a couple of "getting to know you" posts done--I think we should keep adding more/updates as we go too (like Melissa said--we can be comforters for each other as well as teachers).

I've made a rough outline below of what kinds of things we could look at month by month. Will you guys edit/comment with what you think so we can get rolling? We can of course modify or get rid of any topics that don't sound interesting. Let's try to figure out a good order for the rest of them since most of the order here is pretty arbitrary. Hopefully these topics are a mix of things that you see and think, "I'm already happy with how I'm doing that--I don't plan on searching for a lot of new ideas" (that's where you have to let the rest of us pick your brain!), and some that you see and think, "I'm terrible at that--I wouldn't even know where to start" (that's where we have to figure things out together). We're already almost a week into February--HOLY COW! I need a pause button on life sometimes!


January: Getting to Know Each Other. What are our lives like now? What is everyone up to? What's hard about life these days? What's going well?

February: Saving Money on Kid Stuff. Where do you save money on your kids' things and where do you splurge? How do you decide? What kind of alternative things have you tried or do you want to try (cloth diapers, making your own baby food, shopping consignment sales, etc.)? How do you budget with kids? What plans do you have for teaching kids about the value of money as they get older (allowance, etc.)?

March: Gardening. This is a pretty narrow topic compared to the others, but it's the one I'm MOST interested in and I know I'm going to need a lot of help! What do you know or what would you like to learn about growing your own food or beautifying your home & yard with plants? How do you grow things when you don't have a yard (window boxes, container gardening, etc.)? What memories do you have of gardening growing up? What has been successful about gardening in the past and what has been a flop (remember that herb planter box we had one summer at N109? Ha!)? Maybe we can get Rachel Dunn to guest-post for us a couple of times. I'm thinking the earlier in the year the better on this one, since I'd like to start some seedlings inside to get ready for spring planting.

April: Strengthening Personal Testimony. Melissa pointed out that we should have some spiritual goals in here, too. I think this is one we can all always improve on, especially since we find ourselves in kind of a new place mentally & emotionally than we were in even just 3 or 4 years ago. How do we build our faith as individual adults, not just as mothers/wives/etc.? I thought it might be nice to do this during April since it's right after Conference. We can talk about what Conference talks were especially powerful, etc.

May: Good Food on a Budget. Canning/preserving, baking (not just desserts!), freezer meals, budget shopping, cooking gourmet at home, eating healthy even when healthy food is more expensive than junk food, etc. How do you encourage your kids/husband/self to eat healthy?

June: Textiles. Let's get better at working with cloth. We can talk about crocheting, knitting, sewing, applique, embroidery, quilting, etc.--whatever fabric-esque projects we've done or want to try. Good place to post pictures of the things we've made already!

July: Building Righteous Traditions. Starting habits now when our kids are really little that will keep our families strong for years. How do you do FHE with really little kids? What about scripture study? How do you remember to do family prayer? How do you keep up spiritual habits with your spouse (temple attendance, couples prayer & scriptures, etc.)?

August: Beautifying on a Budget. What have you done to make your home more beautiful, comfortable, and organized without breaking the bank? I'm thinking this can span the range from crafts to make your home more pleasant to cleaning & organizing tricks worth passing on. 

September: School at Home. How do you teach your kids? I'm thinking of "school" as being very loosely defined here--just any way that we act as our children's educators. What ideas are out there for helping pre-kindergarten kids build academic and social skills at home? What are the rules in your house about responsibility and discipline, or what rules would you like there to be down the road?

October: ? Grab bag, maybe (just post about any cool ideas you've seen)?


November: Holidays and Thrifty Gifting. Maybe this is a silly topic, but I would love to hear all you guys know about fun things to do as a family during the holidays. How do you decorate? What to you cook or bake? How do you give the gifts you want without destroying your budget? What holiday traditions are you keeping from your childhood with your family now? What new traditions are you starting? How do you negotiate time with extended family?

December: Reflection and Recording the Past. I think it would be cool if we each did a quick post in December talking about how our lives have changed (for better or for worse!) in the last year, and what we've learned. I also think it would be a good month to talk about ways we record our personal and family histories. Do you keep a journal? What purpose do you see your family/personal blog serving? How are you keeping memory books for your kids? What experiences have you had with ancestors' journals, etc.?




That's just a start of course. Topics that aren't in there but that were mentioned: car maintenance, potty training, and photography. (They seemed more narrow than the other topics.) Do you want to add those to the schedule? What should we do for October?