Tonight we finally got to watch Watseka’s fourth of July fireworks. Fourth of July this year brought lots of rain so they had postponed the fireworks until a later date. I can’t believe we had them in September! We had tons of fun though. The church (Faith Lutheran) sold popcorn, soda and glow sticks and people brought there lawn chairs out on the church grass and watched them. Jacob and Lily both found friends pretty fast to run around with and chase bugs or each other with glow sticks. All in all a great night, here are a few pictures of it…

Sisters

Lily braved it very well while clinging to her friend Alaina’s hand, two very brave four year olds.

Joe & Hannah watching them, she absolutely loved them and wasn’t bothered by the noise at all, lots of pointing and smiling.

Jacob did great the second half of them. Before they started he told me that he was going to hide underneath me during the “big booms”. When they first he crawled under a blanket to hide on Mary’s lap when I wouldn’t let him hide under my shirt. Then was content with just sitting there when he got used to the noise.  Such a fun night for all of us.

Today is the day that we are challenged to fight that urge to put off until tomorrow what we really should do. I struggle with procrastination, I always have. In high school and college I would wait until the night before a paper or a project was due before working on it. I’m surprised my parents are still sane, I’m sure it drove them crazy. It drove me crazy! To this day my dad calls my last minute frantic work “pulling a rabbit out of a hat”, and I can attest that some of those papers were only completed with the help of God. But after succeeding and failing so many times I decided that enough was enough. This is not a trait I would pass down to my children and thus started the battle against procrastination. I’m still horrible at it, and often I find myself putting off the fight of procrastination to another day when I don’t have as much to do. But perseverance is what kills any two headed monster under the bed so I persist… and persist… and persist. So here’s my list. Luckily tomorrow is Labor Day, Mary & Joe are home and I WILL get through this list. One task at a time…

Things I’ve Procrastinated On…

• Clean & Organize Room
• Sort & Organize kid’s toys
• Clean Jacob’s Room
• Scrapbook at least 1 page
• Write Letters

The first key to fighting procrastination or really any habit is persistence. Persistence breaks negative habits as well as builds positive ones. Second, getting stuff done that I’ve been putting off is only half the battle. The other half and just as important is taking steps to work on projects/tasks that don’t have to get done right away… preventing procrastination.

Preventing Procrastination

• Sort through & Organize Library Books
• Work on 1 Christmas Project
• Journal 1st Day of 365 BOM Journal
• Plan my next backpacking trip
• Call the Girls

Here are five ways of fighting procrastination…

1. Write it down. This is one of the simplest and quickest things to do. Sit down and make a list of what you need to get done. But keep it to a manageable amount so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by everything that has to get done. Pick 5 things and write them down and resist the urge to keep adding to the list  (you can write them down on a separate sheet of paper and store it out of sight until you complete the five on your Task List)
2. Identify the the which task that you procrastinate WORST on and begin with completing this task first. Get it out of the way first thing in the morning so that it doesn’t loom over your head.
3. Break the task down into smaller steps and take one step at a time. Be realistic with your steps and do not make them so large that they are looming over you constantly and are a reason to continue the habit of procrastination.
4. Commit 15 minutes a day to completing the task if it is a larger task or project that requires more time to commit, a project versus a phone call.
5. Reward yourself when you complete a task.

I continually have to remember that there is never enough time during the day to get everything done, and when/if I finally get time to myself the temptation to sit down and veg out will always be there so I must prepare for it.

I can’t believe summer is at it’s end. Really this has to be the fastest summer I’ve ever experienced. September is going to be such a full month that I’m sure it will be gone before I know it. Lily started preschool today at Calvary Lutheran, she looked so cute all dressed up for her first day. Jacob was a little put out that he isn’t going to school so I’m in the process of converting one of the desks in the office into a schoolroom area for him, a fun project for sure. Virginia Garrett one of my dearest friends and cousin is starting her freshman year at Concordia University in Milwaukee which is only 3 hours away!!! I’m hoping to make it up there on weekends as often as possible!! I’m also going to be flying out to Seattle this month to visit my best friend Nicole and her hubby Jeff. And Hannah is turning one years old!!! Can you believe it, really this tiny little baby goddaughter of mine is no longer a baby…. toddlerhood here she comes! This is truly going to be a memorable month and a busy one, but I’m really looking forward to it. Certainly going to be a lot to share with everyone. I know Mary posted some pictures of the kids that Ruthie took (http://dapelofamily.blogspot.com) but here are some more, they are just so adorable and are getting so big I thought I’d share them…

Day Celebrations

• 6 Fight Procrastination Day 
• 7 Labor Day
• 8 National Date Nut Bread Day
• 8 World Physical Therapy Day
• 10 Swap Ideas Day
• 11 Patriot Day
• 12 Naional Pet Memorial Day
• 13 Grandparents Day
• 17 Citizenship Day
• 18 National Play-doh Day
• 19 Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets)
• 21 International Banana Festival
• 21 Feast of Gedaliah
• 22 Autumnal Equinox
• 22 Dear Diary Day
• 22 Dad's Birthday
• 26 National Good Neighbor Day
• 28 Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
• 30 National Women's Health and Fitness Day

Month Celebrations

• World Leukemia/Lymphoma Awareness Month
• Self-improvement Month
• National Piano Month
• College Savings Month
• National Preparedness Month
• National Rice Month