review Archives | Simply Convivial

26 Apr 2018

How to be more organized: 3 tools you must have

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: homemaker, productivity | 0

Being organized seems like an elusive goal. When do you know if you’ve reached this state of bliss? For some of us, being organized feels like a moving target. We’re almost there, we think, then something changes and we’ve slid back down onto the mire. Honestly, I have not arrived at some final destination known as being organized. I know I could always be more organized than I am. Sometimes I am organized. Sometimes I am not. But rather than … Read More

4 Jul 2017

What’s Working Now: My Weekly Planner Page

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: homemaker, productivity | 8

For nearly a year I gave all-digital planning another go. I tried a few different configurations, a few different apps and options – all in the name of research! – with mixed success. I tried Evernote for a weekly summary note and a place to keep routines. I tried a spreadsheet version of my previous paper weekly spread. I tried using all Omnifocus, all the time (except for routines, which then plummeted). Over and over again, I return to the … Read More

15 Aug 2016

5 Ways My Life was Changed by Cindy Rollins

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: mother, podcast | 11

If you are starting out homeschooling with a bright-eyed little 5-year-old – a toddler tagging along and another on the way – you eat up the stories of those ahead of you on the journey. What curriculum do you use? What is most important in a homeschool day? What should I be doing? How do you homeschool and do laundry and put meals on the table? CH063: Thoughts on Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins When I was in that spot … Read More

26 May 2016

Being OK with a little morning routine

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: homemaker, mother | 1

Organize your attitude #17 by Kara Anderson of Quill & Camera For a very long time, I have aspired to have Big, Grand Mornings. And so last year I started setting my alarm unbelievably early so I could wake up to a quiet house and have at least an hour of peace and solitude. I’ve heard this sort of time described as “finding myself before they (the kids) find me,” and that definitely applies here. I want to be available … Read More

25 Apr 2016

A New Opportunity for Mom Quiet Time

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: mother | 0

You know I love audiobooks. So when Heirloom Audio contacted me and offered to send me their collection of dramatized Henty stories, I jumped at the opportunity. There is nothing like the power of story to communicate truth and virtue. There is nothing like taking in a story to transform the mind, emotions, and affections all together, especially one told with feeling and energy. And these stories are told with energy, with drama, with conviction. I was blown away by … Read More

12 Jan 2016

One Quick Hack to Improve Your Plan

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: homemaker, podcast | 10

Write your plan the night before and supercharge your day. The day was over. The kids in bed, the house quiet. Time to sigh, breathe deep, and decide how to relax. I glanced down and I caught sight of my daily index card plan I’d made that morning. Ugh. I’d totally forgotten about it after the hubbub of the day had begun. I had begun with such high hopes and ended up feeling like I’d simply held on for dear … Read More

21 Oct 2015

Reordering Loves, Organizing Attitudes, Being Happy

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: mindset, mother | 12

An organized attitude, scholé, and ordo amoris are all tightly connected, at least in my mind. The threads are coming together in the book Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness which I purchased and began chiefly on the strength of the title. Of course I checked out the author and a few reviews, but the title had me. I’ve not been disappointed. Virtue is Happiness Virtue is my word of the year for 2015, and it … Read More

9 Jun 2015

3 Steps for a Morning Review

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: productivity | 1

A morning review creates a power-start to your day. The process I recommend will take you less than 10 minutes, but it will give you peace and clarity about the day ahead of you and what you can reasonably accomplish. The best time to do a morning review is before the children are up and awake, while the house is peaceful and quiet and the day has not yet begun in earnest. However, that is not always possible. When, for … Read More

8 May 2015

Cottage Press Review: Language Arts & Book of Centuries

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: homeschooler | 73

It’s time to be browsing curriculum materials for next year, and I am excited to share a few resources with you that you may not have heard about before. Kathy Weitz, owner of Cottage Press and keeper of The Reading Mother blog, produces some fabulous language arts resources. Yes, there are numerous writing programs out there, and this one is similar to First Language Lessons while also teaching children how to write by beginning them with copywork and rewriting fables, … Read More

1 Apr 2015

Daily faithfulness over measurable results

by Mystie Winckler | posted in: homemaker, mindset, mother | 5

One more post about Michael Horton’s Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World if you’ll humor me. I think this is a book any mom deep in the trenches of raising kids would appreciate. Horton grounds us in solid teaching that centers us on the Gospel, in the finished work of Christ, rather than on ambitious, restless desires for “doing great things for God.” This doesn’t mean we do nothing. Rest is not inactivity. Is is a state of … Read More