1.  Yesterday I finally got a letter written (and proofed by my husband) to appeal an insurance decision.  This has been hanging over my head for a couple of weeks.

2.  One day this week I was showered and blow-dried before school started.

3.  Today I got out of bed.  This is a success because I was actually up much earlier with a small person.  A cup of coffee was sitting next to me as my husband woke me up.  This helped a great deal.

I’m looking forward to your family rosary post.

Congratulations to everyone for their small (and big) successes!

I’ve never posted my small successes before but that is probably just b/c I get so stuck in my own perfectionism that I can’t even see them myself!  But…here goes:

1)  I offered to watch my 2 little nieces while my sil took one of her boys to the dentist the other morning.  During their 3 hrs here, my little girl had a blast, my 2 homeschooled boys did ALL their school work, I did 3 loads of laundry AND baked mini muffins that are now in the freezer for dd’s 3rd b’day party.  (hmmm…maybe this is alot for ONE success but anyway…)

2)  When my boys finished their entire school day before 11 the past 2 mornings, I didn’t stop them & heap more work on just b/c it was “too early” to stop.  Nope…I let them play w/their Legos & enjoy being little boys at home.

3)  This one is happening today…we are going to our “extra” daily Lenten Mass this morning.  I had planned on going yesterday but we had to stay home & wait for a TV repair guy to check out our broken set…that, in itself, was a success b/c I didn’t let it get me down that we couldn’t get there on the day I had “planned”. 

Wow, I’m so proud of me!  ; )  Thanks, Danielle, for this opportunity & God bless you all!!!

boy. I cannot believe I am number 5 to sign in. I am usually around 50 or so.

1.  Not blogging about my small successes because today is my oldest daughter’s 12th birthday and I want any attention on my blog to go to her….(I’ll link next week)....

2.  Roasting a still-good pumpkin, preparing the pumpkin meat and making pumpkin bars!  Yum!

3.  Trying to turn an ugly situation into a positive learning opportunity!

Thank you for this opportunity.  It has helped me be more accountable and look at my days from a different perspective.  Great idea!
Congratulations, everyone.

Does anyone know why that smiley face keeps showing up when I ‘sign’ a Mr. Linky?  I didn’t put it there.  It happened yesterday also.
Figuring this out could be next week’s success.

Lisa,
I don’t see a smiley face next to your name. Maybe it’s Mr. Linky’s way of saying, “Hey, this is you!”

Me again (#3) b/c I have to rework my Small Success #3…My oldest son just called from school and is sick…NO daily Mass for us as we need to head over there shortly to get him & bring him home.  My “success” for this one is that instead of freaking out about not getting to Mass, I am working HARD to accept God’s will b/c only He knows where I need to be this morning.

This is my second week doing this. I don’t find it easy, but think it’s important to recognize the good things we do ourselves. It takes me out of my comfort zone which is not such a bad thing.
PS-think the smiley face thing happens when you are viewing from you own website. I’ve seen this happen on few of my own Mr. Linky posts on other sites. I could be wrong about that though.

1) After reading the daily lent posting yesterday, I decided to shut off the Internet and see how productive I could be in God’s work. I decided to finally paint the kids bedroom. DH had off so he helped me with the kids and I got the whole room done. I think angels were helping though because a few times I could have had major paint drops on the carpet but it is amazing when you just try to follow God’s plan how things sometimes all fall into place!

2) Have had a healthy hot supper on the table every night for family. Cooking lots of veggies but need to cut back on cabbage because nursing little one seems to not care for it!

3) Recognizing that I feel more in love with my husband today than ever before. I am so grateful for such an amazing spouse. We were talking yesterday while I was painting and he just lifts me up and sets me straight and helps me to be closer to God each day - my heart runneth over from this amazing blessing God has given me as my life partner.

1. I did a giant mountain of dishes that had been building up for a few days due to work and being gone every evening. It included a crockpot that I’d foolishly used with no liner, and an electric donut maker. I hereby make a vow not to cook in anything electric (for at least three weeks til I forget about what a pain that was!).

2. I got a new computer, and hooked it all up. I’ve been without a computer at home for a month so I can’t tell you how happy I am. Entertainment was sorely missed in our house.

3. My daughter and I said the Rosary for the first time together last night.

Good job everybody else - and all the food you’re making sounds really great! I cooked Danielle’s cordon bleu chicken yesterday too. Mmm. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

completely off topic, but i wanted to share anyway…

i love this blog.  and seek encouragement as a catholic, as a mom, as a wife, and as a woman.  but as those three things, it is impossible for me to spend unlimited amounts of time reading blogs, even if they are uplifting.

i can not keep up with all the posts.  it would be so much better if you guys posted once or twice ONLY a day.  when i click over and there are mulitple posts on each day, it becomes too much and i have to just shut it down.

just my observance, and please don’t get me wrong.  it is all such good stuff that i hate to miss any of it, but reality is that i do and will.

Sorry, this is o.t. too, but - Sorry Heidi, but I disagree. I love to check this blog in the morning and see the new things posted, and then check again later, and there are even more new things posted. It makes me happy that there’s always something new. But it seems like if it bugged you, it would be fairly easy to just read it once a day and try not to look at it the rest of the time.

Ooh, Maria, do you have a recipe for those pumpkin bars? I’ve been looking for some good pumpkin recipes recently.

1. I have managed to cut down my time spent on the computer. 
2. I had to buy a last minute gift for a birthday on Sunday and I remembered to bring gift bags and tissue in the car instead of allotting more $$ for that.
3. When we got a nasty paper in the mail, that was not my responsibility, I managed to NOT bring it up to my husband until the next day since when he got home he had had a terrible day at work.  And my tongue didn’t fall off from all that biting either

Hey Heidi - ere is an idea - subscribe to the DIGEST (the invitation always pops up for me when I click on this site). You get ONE e-mail with all the postings in it. You could read it once a day with coffee or dessert and have some me time?

Just an idea

My small successes this week:
1-  I had SUCCESSFUL vein surgery yesterday!  Whoo Hooo!  First time I went the doctor sent me home!
2-I have been keeping my Lenten fast.  No chocolate and No coffee.
3- I did a load of towels this morning. 

Note to Heidi:  When you put in a comment, make sure the box that says “Notify me of follow up comments”  is NOT checked if you don’t want all those emails in your box.

1.  Have been taking all 3 kids with me to the grocery store (ages 3 1/2, 22 mo’s, & 1 mo., the first trip when baby was 1 wk old).  Big accomplishment, both physically and mentally.  I stockpiled groceries before baby’s birth, thinking I’ll never see daylight again for at least a couple of months.  Honestly, it’s been easier having 3 kids, than having 2 and being pregnant with #3.

2.  Whittling away at finishing thank you notes.  Almost there!

3.  Have hamburger meat thawing to make Tater-tot casserole tonight.  First meal I’ve cooked since baby.

Thank you for your comment, Heidi. I think the ladies here have already given you some good advice. While we don’t plan to decrease the frequency of posting here, you can definitely control how often you receive and filter the information we share. The daily email digest or using a feed reader are great ways to do that.

Thanks for sharing your successes, Danielle!  We’re praying a nightly Rosary throughout Lent.  We did this last year and it was lovely…perhaps I’ll develop the discipline this year to incorporate it throughout the year!

1.  I have prayed the Rosary every day during Lent so far.

2.  I went to confession.

3.  I have planned our RCIA retreat day

Leslee

Danielle,
Will your rosary post include what your evening routine is?  Love to have some insight.

My small successes for this week are:

1. Getting back to tracking on my weight watchers plan after a couple of weeks of not tracking so well.  Doing this allowed me to loose the 4lbs needed to reach a 10lb goal.

2.  Cleaning up all the piles of paperwork and school work that piled up and were ignored during the school vacation last week.

3.  Finally taking a mop to the kitchen floor on Saturday.  Although now you would never know that it was mopped, but for part of a week it looked really good.

Here’s the pumpkin bar recipe for anyone interested:

Pumpkin Bars
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin (I used fresh)
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

I added oatmeal and a lite layer of chocolate chips.

Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs, add sugar, then oil; add dry ingredients with pumpkin and nuts. Pour in 9x9x2-inch greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan and frost, if desired.

We just started doing family rosaries, and it’s amazing how our oldest (he’s 4) really seems to enjoy it. He randomly throws in all sorts of crazy prayers, for his trains and whatnot, but it’s great. I’m looking forward to reading more about your experiences with this!

1- I made my huisband biscuits the day we received our stove.
2- I vacuumed up most of the styrofoam snow the 5 year old created with the packing styrofoam and sprinkled over EVERY toy over the ENTIRE 2nd floor while I was working on the computer.
and (a big one!!!)

I finished our Conference Web Site!!!

We finally have our speakers announced.

whew!

Great job on the sorting, Danielle!  I like to spread out those small successes too!  LOL!

Those pretzels sound so yummy!

I love reading all the successes!  All you moms are such an inspiration to me (I’m still cooking my first urchin) and knowing that there are always successes is such an important thing for ALL of us to remember!

My small success for today and the week…is not going on the computer during the day!!! Boy, oh Boy, am I getting alot done…of course it keeps beckoning me to come and check…and except for a few important emails I needed to send out or check on…I did it. I was right, I really am not THAT IMPORTANT…I do have to figure out how to clean out the email box at night…wow, do I get alot of unimportant stuff that I am stuck going through at night…so far so good!!!

I also took the baby for a walk even thou I really needed a pregnancy nap!!!

I too am so glad this is out there for young moms who need encouragement…boy, I wish I had this when I was a new mom!!! Of course I can take all the advice and encouragement again and again!!!

it is the 11th hour, but i did it and i actually feel successful! and so should all of you!!!=) happy weekend and God bless.

1.  yesterday, i got a lot of chores done around the house, including dusting!  i hadn’t dusted since right before my baby was born 6 weeks ago. (she’s actually a day younger than Arwen’s Blaise!)

2.  i haven’t been freaking out about the “soup” (you know, rainwater-rocks-sand-and-dirt soup) the kids have been concocting in the baby pool in the backyard.  or the ensuing mess/extra laundry!

3.  tuesday & wednesday, i braved the rain and ran errands by myself w/all 3 kids, aged 4, 2.5 and 6 wks!

Not sure about the time difference and this is my first time linking to anything and I don’t think I did it right. But it was good to think on the successes of the week. It is worth while to actually take the time to do this.

First time “small success” post!  Very fun.