W ~ W's from my Idea Book

Writing Prompts This is such a fun section of my idea books. I have pages of fun prompts I have jotted down for the children to get inspiration for writing short stories. I also have prompts for my own writing, maybe a sentence or two that sparks a fun idea for a possible story line. There are lists of writing prompts for possible essays, blog posts, journals and more.

Wish List This is actually surprisingly small. Yes, there are things I would like to have, but most of them aren't important enough to make it to my wish list. I'm not counting books with this, they have their own sizable list.

Words I have always loved words. When I come across a new word that I want to remember I will write it in the word section of my idea book along with its definition.

Websites You'd think with the ability to save websites to your favorites, and the option to pin basically everything we want to a Pinterest board, that I would not need to write the addresses of websites in my idea books. But yet, I do.

Weight Loss I don't even like this section of my idea book, but I haven't discarded it yet. I could write entire blog posts on the adventures I've had with this category.

Q ~ Q's from my Idea Books

Quotes I happen to love quotes, and when one catches my attention by either amusing or inspiring me, I will jot it in the quotes section of my idea books.

Quilts I want to teach the girls the joys of sewing and hand quilting a quilt. I have some quilts planned out in my idea book. The color scheme, pattern, amount of fabric I'll need to buy, and other little details I will refer to when we approach the somewhat monumental task of making a quilt.

Quiet Book I have long been fascinated by quiet books. When Steven was still itty bitty I started planning a quiet book to make for him. I enjoyed planning all the fun different pages I could make. There are sketches, well written ideas, and supply lists. I started sewing it, but never got it done. I really need to before he has completely outgrown the age where he would enjoy playing with it.

P ~P's from my Idea Book

Photo Prompts As part of a photography project the girls will be doing, I have been creating various lists of photo prompts for them. I'm excited to help them work on it this summer.

Playlists I often listen to music when I write. Something interesting I have discovered is that I don't have specific writing music. Instead each book somehow seems to create a playlist of its own. I jot them down in my idea books because I want to go back to them and listen again even after I'm done writing.

Poems I write poetry occasionally and have a section devoted to my rhyming ramblings.

Projects When I approach new projects, I usually create a list of all the things I will need to get it done.

Party Planning Our parties aren't big at all, but they are a lot of fun. I enjoy planning all the details a long time beforehand and then have everything come together nicely without getting stressed or harried.

O ~ O's from my Idea Book

Oops My idea books hold so many fun things. Inspirational things. And a whole host of things that make me feel happy. But then there is the oops section. It's where I record the things that I don't want to repeat. Mostly Pinterest fails. It can be anything from recipes to crafts, to household tips, and unfortunately for the girls ... a disastrous acne treatment that they had tried one evening.

Opportunities When I have an idea of ways to make some extra money I'll jot it in my idea books. Some I'm working on, while others are still in that fun dream stage.

M ~ M's from my Idea Book

Menus This has been mentioned several times already, but menus are a pretty important part of my idea books, so I'm mentioning them again. We go grocery shopping once a week, so planning out our menu is very helpful in knowing exactly what I need to get. Not only does it help me make sure I have everything I need for all our meals, it also helps me to not buy things that I might not get used before they spoil.

Memories Each of my idea books has a section where I jot tidbits of conversations and happenings in our family. I love looking back over all these little memories. It's something I'll always cherish.

Memes Somewhat the same as the linkups I mentioned yesterday, but they're a little more topic specific. I may use them someday ... maybe ... who knows.

Me Easily the most private part of my idea books. It's the section where I focus on me and the things that I would like to become better at.

L ~ L's from my Idea Book

Lunch With LV at work I tend to keep lunch on the simple side, but I still like to plan the menus to keep things from getting boring.

Library I keep a running list of books to get from the library. One list for books I would like to read. Another list with the books we'll be needing throughout the school year.

Link ups I have pages of fun blog link ups that I think would be fun to join someday. The only one I do regularly is the Wednesday Hodgepodge, but I may have to change things up and start throwing some different ones in occasionally.

Lesson Plans I really like mapping out my lesson plans. Starting with the main curriculum I use that lesson as a jumping off point and add things in order to dig deeper and learn more. There are so many things that can be added to make learning more interesting.

J ~ J's from my Idea Book

I don't have a lot of J's in my idea books. There are a number of them that appear in different possible A-Z themed lists, but I won't be talking about them today.

Jokes Steven absolutely loves jokes. There are days when he will go on a spree of telling jokes and making up a lot of his own. They're mind numbingly awful. Especially his knock-knock jokes. After a listening to hours and hours of them I decided I really need to write them down, and then someday bind them in a little book and give it to him when he's older. Maybe as a wedding gift. So now there is a section in my idea book reserved for the jokes invented by a five year old.

Joy I have a joy section in my idea book where I'll jot things down that make me feel joyful. I expand on them later in a proper journal, but until I have the time to write about them properly it helps to have the condensed version jotted down to help me remember.

I ~ Idea Books

As you know, during this A-Z challenge I have been chattering on about the things I have in my idea books. I realized yesterday I haven't shown you the books themselves. So here they are. My five main ones. I still have notebooks and journals, but these binders are the ones I call my idea books.

 

The big pink one has over 500 pages, and is devoted entirely to homeschooling, while the others are much more of a hodgepodge of things that I keep organized with my handy little tabs.

 

 

My love for lists and idea books has been handed down to our children. Rosie Mae and Sharon each have their own, already brimming with lots of juicy, interesting things.

While we were spring cleaning the storage room I came across an older binder. I pitched the contents, since there was no point in hanging onto the pages of farm records any longer after having moved off that farm years ago. I filled it with fresh paper and presented it to Steven along with a new pen. Who would have thought a five year old would love his very own idea book so much?! He's spent lots of time ever since getting it, drawing and writing in it everyday.

H ~ H's from my Idea Book

  There are several lists of possible 'H' related blog posts, but I'm not delving into them today. I find it just a tad bit annoying how none of them are feeling as if it was the perfect time to be used.

Household Tips When I read or hear of some household tips I'll jot them in my idea book. Sadly, most of the time that is all I'll ever do with them. Of the ones I have remembered to try, there are some that have gone on to become regulars in our house. Others have not been successful at all and had to be crossed out and a short description of the failure written next to it to make sure we'll never try them again.

  Hymns I have a list of my favorite hymns with my favorite version or singer of that hymn. I can be forgetful at times, and if I want to find a certain song, it's so much easier when I know who sang it the best.

 Homeschool I could have done the entire A-Z challenge focused solely on homeschooling and all the different things involved. I'm not sure if I have ever conveyed just how much I love homeschooling. Each of my idea books have things in them pertaining to homeschool, and my biggest one is devoted entirely to it.

G ~ G's from my Idea Book

I have only a few 'G' related things in my idea books.

Goals I have multiple lists of goals sprinkled throughout my idea books. There are daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. And other life goals we hope to meet within the next five to ten years.

Grocery Lists There are always several grocery lists. One is the weekly list while the others are everything that will be needed for special occasions. Holidays, birthdays, and things I need for company meals.

Gifts I keep my ears and eyes open year round and when I discover something that would make the perfect gift for one of the children or LV I'll jot it down for a future birthday or Christmas gift.

D ~ D's from my Idea Book

The things I jot into my idea books that begin with the letter 'D' couldn't exactly all be called ideas, but since they're part of my books, I'm sharing them today.

Devotions Life often gives me excellent pictures and examples of our relationship with God/Jesus. In moments like that I will quickly jot down what ever it was that caused me to think deeper and how it ties in with our spiritual life. Later I'll go back and add Bible verses and references that match up with it. I find it very inspiring to read back over the things I've written.

Dinner Since I use three ring binders for my idea books it makes it easy to add and remove pages as needed. I always have a week's worth of dinners planned. At the end of the week I'll remove that page and create a new one for the next week's dinners. If it was an extra good week I'll tuck it into the front pocket to be used again in a month or so.

Dreams I have two sections for this. One I have as a list of dreams I have for the future, while the other is of dreams I've had at night that stick with me and I jot them down to think about later.

Doodles I have a few pages that I doodle on when I talk on the phone. I'm not sure what it is about talking on the phone that always brings out the mindless doodling part of me.

C ~ C's from my Idea Book

Let's peep into my idea book again today.

Crafts I have a section devoted to crafts projects we want to work on. Next to each project I have the week noted that I'm hoping to do it, as well as a list of all the supplies needed. Life is too short to get nearly everything done that I hope to do someday, so only the best of the best get listed in my book.

Christmas  The pages filled with Christmas ideas contain gift ideas of things we can make, as well as those to buy. All the snacks we want to make and enjoy over the season get jotted down and a list of ingredients I'll need before we get started. A detailed menu for our Christmas breakfast. Christmas related crafts, projects, and science experiments to add to our homeschool. Names and addresses for the people we want to send Christmas cards to. Food we want to share with the neighbors and the mailman. And a list of our favorite Christmas music.

Cleaning Not as fun, but rather important. I have a section with our cleaning schedule and tried and true cleaning tips I've found on Pinterest that actually work.

Country Studies I have an entire idea book devoted to Country Studies. In it I list the books we need to get at the library, recipes to try, crafts, art, and other fun projects to do for each country. Websites to find interesting facts about the country and videos to watch traditional dances. A list of important or famous people from that country to research later. Native plants and animals. The National anthem and traditions. We really enjoy this notebook.

B ~ B's from my Idea Book

   Earlier this year I had mentioned my idea books, and one of my readers suggested I should do this year's A-Z theme based on the ideas and things I write in those books. I thought it was an interesting option and decided that I'll be sharing bits and pieces from it though out the challenge.

Bucket List - I keep a running list of things I want to do someday, crossing items off as I complete them and adding more when ever I come across something that interests me.

Several items that were crossed off are:

Make homemade vanilla.
Have a book published (surpassed my original goal, and have a series of four books.)
Make every recipe in a cookbook
Do a Pinterest project every week for a year.

Several that I'm still hoping to do someday:

Visit the Library of Congress
Learn how to waterfall braid
Plant a tree
Plan schedule for all 180 days of school before the new school year begins.
Make a blog post every day for a year.

Book Ideas

When a new idea flits through my mind I'll quickly jot it down. Some of these go on to become outlines for books, while others are sitting there waiting for more inspiration.

Blogging

The amount of ideas I have for potential blog posts could keep me posting daily for several years. I may have to make better use of it.

Birthdays

I plan food,  activities, and gifts for all the birthdays in our family well in advance.

Breakfasts

I keep a running list of food and recipes I want to try for breakfast to keep them from getting boring. Without it I find it easy to make the regular eggs, toast, and cereal every morning.