The Sensible Mom

Food, DIY, Chicago Mom Blogger

10 Goals for the Week

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10 Goals to Tackle This Week

It’s been a few weeks since I updated my goals, but since I last shared them, I was able to cross 8 out of 10 off my list.

Before I share my progress with you, I thought I’d share a few photos of what we’ve been up to on weekends as a family. Fall has definitely arrived here in Illinois, and we’ve been enjoying a lot of good fall fun!

Here are a few pictures I took at this year’s Boo! at the Zoo!

The kids enjoyed getting to trick or treat at the zoo, and I was happy to be able to get all five of them together to snap this photo. They’re all getting so big!

Elisabeth recently lost her first tooth, and you can see the empty space that’ll soon be filled by an adult tooth! She’s pretty excited about it all. πŸ™‚

Besides Boo! at the Zoo, we also took the kids to two events hosted by our local park district. They got to play games, decorate pumpkins, make a scarecrow, enjoy snacks and more.

Here’s a look at our Minecraft scarecrow:

And then today, we visited Blackberry Farm where we were able to ride a carousel, train, and wagon. The kids also had the chance to climb up into a big tractor that was decorated for the season.

All in all, it’s been a fantastic fall so far. πŸ™‚

And now, here’s what I accomplished as far as my goals:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Work on memorizing a verse of scripture as a family

2. Help Isaac list toys on ebayΒ — Isaac is trying to make some extra money so he wants to sell some of his Five Nights at Freddy’s toys.

Personal Goals:

3. Read through 1 & 2 Thessalonians — I ended up finishing the New Testament again, and I’m starting back in Matthew. I also plan to continue reading the Old Testament. I’m in the book of Ezra there.

4. Meet with a friend

5. Write and publish a sponsored blog post

6.Β Journal 2x

Home Management Goals:

7. Sew a pair of pants — I decided to forget about this since the pants I was going to sew are really worn in some spots, and they’re probably going to end up in the trash soon.

8. Clean out my purse

Business Goals:

9. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ my YouTube channel — I’m working on a video.

10. Edit & upload one new video toΒ our family YouTube channel — I FINALLY uploaded a new video on our channel for kids! Yay! πŸ™‚

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Work on memorizing a verse of scripture as a family

2. Go on a fun family outing

Personal Goals:

3. Read through the book of Matthew in the New Testament and finish reading through Ezra in the Old Testament

4. Schedule a meeting with a friend

5. Install a plugin to clean up some of the unnecessary stuff hanging around my blog and then delete that plugin

6.Β Journal 2x

Home Management Goals:

7. Wipe down Elisabeth’s art project area

8. Work on November budget

Business Goals:

9. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ my YouTube channel

10. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ our family YouTube channel

What are your goals for this week?


The Royal Berkey Water Filter System Review

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Thanks to the folks that work with The Berkey for partnering with me on this post by sending me
The Royal Berkey Water System to review.

Water.

It’s something I’ve talked about a lot on my YouTube channel, and it’s definitely one of the things I’ve received the most questions about.

People want to know why we buy so much bottled water, and why we don’t simply drink tap water.

The short answer is that the tap water in our area isn’t great. It’s not even good. So, we’ve resorted to using tap water for things like washing dishes and brushing our teeth with, but we’ve drawn the line at drinking it.

In the past, we’ve used ZeroWater products to filter tap water, and they worked well. The problem is that ZeroWater products simply weren’t robust enough for our family of seven. Filters needed to be replaced often, and that’s expensive.

The Royal Berkey Water Filter System

Now, I’ve received lots of comments from people sharing ideas and products that we could use to reduce our bottled water consumption and one of the products that has been suggested over and over is The Berkey Water Filter System.

As you can see from the picture, the Berkey is quite large and the particular system sent to me to review is the Royal Berkey that holds 3.25 gallons of water. That’s a lot of water!

But that’s not even their biggest system. The Imperial Berkey holds 4.5 gallons of water, and the Crown Berkey holds a whopping 6 gallons of filtered water at one time!

Overall, our experience with the Berkey has been very positive. It does take some time to set up before initial use (I strongly recommend following the directions. πŸ™‚ ) and it does filter water very slowly when you’re filtering it for the first time, but then as you continue to use it, it begins to filter at its maximum flow rate.

And then it’s just a matter of using and consuming the water and refilling the Berkey as needed.

FUN FACT: The Royal Berkey system is so powerful that it removes food coloring from water without removing the beneficial minerals your body needs. Isn’t that amazing?

Drinking From The Berkey

We’ve been using theΒ water we filter with the Berkey for many things. Most importantly, we drink it, and it tastes clean, smooth, and refreshing. My kids enjoy it, and that makes me happy! πŸ™‚

I’m looking forward to using the Berkey for many years to come. It’ll become a fixture in our home, for sure!

Do you filter your tap water? Have you ever used a Berkey system?

You can also check out the Royal Berkey Water Filter System on Amazon (referral link), and this particular one comes with a fluoride filter and four stainless steel cups!


Local Readers: Trick or Treat at Boo! At The Zoo

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Thanks to the Ferrara Candy Company and Brookfield Zoo for inviting us to attend Boo! at the Zoo again this year.

Last year, we had the opportunity to attend Brookfield Zoo’s Boo! at the Zoo event for the first-time ever, and we had so much fun! You can take a peek at the video above to get an idea of how our day went. πŸ™‚

Boo! at the Zoo is back again this year, and, once again, it’s presented by the Ferrara Candy Company at the Brookfield Zoo on October 21-22 and 28-29. The activities kick off at 10:00 AM and end at 4:00 PM each day.

Ferrara Candy Company will have four β€œTrick or Treat Stations” where they will be handing out candy and have a spot for your family to take a photo. And trust me, your kids will leave the zoo with PLENTY of candy to share. Our kids filled their buckets last year.

More Details:

Sign-up for Boo! At The Zoo is now open for residents of Hillside, Bellwood, Berkeley, Melrose, Stone Park and Northlake to get free admission and round-trip transportation from Memorial Park in Hillside to the event. Registration is first-come, first-serve as 46 people each day (Oct. 21 & 22 and Oct. 28 & 29) will get complimentary admission.

Residents can register on-site at the Eisenhower Community Center, located at 700 Speechley Blvd, Hillside, IL in the admin building. Registration for the first weekend closes at 8:00 PM on Friday. Regular admission price is $19.85 for adults, $14.50 for children 3-11 and admission is free for children 2 and under.

What are some of your favorite fall activities?

If you need treat buckets for your kids, you can check out these ones on Amazon. (referral link)


10 Goals for the Week

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10 Goals to Tackle This Week

I crossed off 7 out of 10 goals for last week. Not bad, but I keep failing at uploading new YouTube videos. I want to get back to both of our channels, but it’s been a challenge, especially since I’ve been dealing with laptop issues for a while now.

I finally got a few problems with my laptop resolved last weekend, so I should be good to go now. At least I hope so! I have an old laptop, and I’m trying to get as much life out of it as possible. πŸ™‚

Here’s what I accomplished:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Work on memorizing a verse of scripture as a family

2. Go on a fun family outing — My family and I were invited to spend the weekend in Chicago and stay at the Radisson Blu Aqua hotel. If you’d like a peek into what we did, you check out my Instagram and Twitter accounts. Overall, the Radisson Blu Aqua far exceeded our expectations, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a beautiful hotel. πŸ™‚

Personal Goals:

3. Read through the book of Ephesians — Since Ephesians is a shorter book, I ended up reading through Philippians and Colossians as well.

4. Take Breanna shopping

5. Write and publish a sponsored blog post — I started this post and plan on finishing it this week.

6.Β Journal 2x

Home Management Goals:

7.Β Look into switching our car insurance provider — I’m pretty sure we’re going to make the switch later this month.

8. Work on October budget

Business Goals:

9. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ my YouTube channel

10. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ our family YouTube channel

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Work on memorizing a verse of scripture as a family

2. Help Isaac list toys on ebayΒ — Isaac is trying to make some extra money so he wants to sell some of his Five Nights at Freddy’s toys.

Personal Goals:

3. Read through 1 & 2 Thessalonians

4. Meet with a friend

5. Write and publish a sponsored blog post

6.Β Journal 2x

Home Management Goals:

7. Sew a pair of pants

8. Clean out my purse

Business Goals:

9. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ my YouTube channel

10. Edit & upload at least one new video toΒ our family YouTube channel

What are your goals for this week?