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It’s Almost August
Time for a new BusyBodyBook

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This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Do you use one of those school-year calendars that go August to August? For the last couple years, I have. It’s in August that I begin to think about all of the practices, after-school activities, doctor’s appointments, snacks I have to bring, and all of those things of which a mom must keep track.

Back-to-school is the time each year when I have to forget the lazy days with no schedule and buckle back down (although 5 Minutes for Mom and my new 5 Minutes for Books site have kept me busy so far this summer).

Actually, it was my work with 5 Minutes for Mom, as well as participating in blog events and book blog tours on my personal blog Snapshot that first convinced me I needed one good place to keep track of everything.

Last year I reviewed the Busy Body Book here on 5 Minutes for Mom (twice actually). I have been using it faithfully all year. Each week I use the unique five-grid system to keep track of contest ending dates, hours worked, to-do lists (there’s a nice list page opposite of the weekly grid), phone calls to return, appointments, dinner menus–you name it.

I just received the 2008 – 2009 Academic Year BusyBodyBook. I would not have guessed that it could get any better than the system upon which I’ve come to rely–but it has:

  • There is a separate flexible plastic cover for the front and back making it even more sturdy (although my heavy wax cardboard from last year held up just fine.
  • The bar at the top with the week’s date range is a little darker, so it pops.
  • The cover colors are brighter.

I can’t wait for the calendar to change so that I can break in my brand-new BusyBodyBook.

If you would like to win one of 4 Academic Year (August 2008 – September 2009) BusyBodyBook planners, leave a comment here, letting us know which design you prefer. We’ll announce the winners on July 24.

You can also save 10% on BBB brand new 2009 Wall Calendar if you order it now and enter the code “BBBWALL” in the comments section at checkout.

Reader Interactions


280 Comments

  1. I love the striped one. It would really help. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis last Fall. So, with an active, military family at a new post (& new schools) this wiuld be a godsend. Thanks so much for your consideration.

  11. Stripes is my favorite. Would love to win this, I really could use an organizer this year 🙂 Thanks!

  16. I like the green with polka dots design – Once a teacher, always a teacher in terms of August to September calendar. However, I LOVE the color and design of the blue mosaic. Thank you for the opportunity to win!

  17. I would like the mosaic thanks for a great giveaway i could really use it to get organized

  23. Would love to have the green dottie one! This would be an awesome organizer for me and my 3 children. Love the idea that each person has their own space, but at the same time you can see all the scheduled activites for the whole family. No more over-scheduling activites.

  26. I love planners! I keep track of appointments for all 6 of my grandkids, my hubby and both my mother and father in law! I think the Funky Floral Busy Body Book Personal & Family Organizer is pretty

  29. These are great! My oldest son starts Kindergarten in about three weeks and I’m so unprepared. I would like the Aug. 08 – Sept. 09 in Stripes please. I also love the BusyBody Wall Calendar!

  30. What a great thing to have, I need so much more organization in my life!!! I love the Mosaic!

  35. i love the August ’08 – September ’09 BusyBodyBook Personal & Family Organizer: Blue
    Busy Body

  38. I love the mosaic organizer. Our family has been using one of those giveaway calendars. This one would work so much better.

  41. I love the floral print and I really need this to help me get school functions and everything else in my family members lives organized!

  43. GREEN POLKA DOTS YAY!! The world needs more polka dots, can I please request a new polka dot color mix…LOL…I love, love, love brown and pink…pink polka dots. YAY!

  49. My favorite is actually the floral.
    But the August ones don’t come in the floral design So I’ll say the green with polka dots.
    Thank you for the contest.

  51. I love so many of them but especially the Green Dots ones. School begins here in two weeks and already I thinking about all the things which come with it, especially school events and sports. I love the way the green dot one makes me smile and would never be hard to find!

  52. Ohhh!! Love the giveaway! Thanks for giving us the chance to win one!
    My fav would definitely be the STRIPES!

    Thanks =)

  55. I LIKE THE STRIPES. It will be perfect for yhr comong year. Most people go Jan to Dec. for the ear. My year starts at school time Aug.

  59. Awesome calendars! I would really like the stripes one. Although they are all so beautiful!
    Thanks!

  60. I love the dots design. Will come in handy getting three kids organized this school year! Thanks.

  61. Love the stripes. This would help me tremendously as I am going back to nursing school this fall.

  63. love the stripes! and what a great organizer, hadn’t heard of it before! 🙂

  64. I love the stripes and the floral, but I think that I’d go with the STRIPES! Great product. With 2 kids going back to school and one possibly going into Headstart, this could very possibly help out ALOT!

  66. Love the polka dots!!! With all the appointments my son has and activities the others have I could really use a good organizer since I am not the most organized person. LOL!

  69. Another vote for the green with polka dots. The dots seem very popular these days! I am a cake decorator and I even get requests for polka dot cakes! Thanks!

  76. I love the floral design in orange, it would be great for my hectic life. thanks so much for having a contest!

  86. I love these calendars. I have such a problem when it comes to the change in years. Our schedules get confused and birthdays get lost. I like the blue strips.

  88. I like the mosaic one. I’ve been looking for a planner for a while so this would be great. Thanks.

  90. With my Adult ADD I’m thinking this might be a neccessity! 🙂 I really like the floral pattern plus it’s orange and my little guy loves orange.

  96. I would take the white with green polka dots…I need something I will be able to find when I lose it.

  98. I’m in love with the stripes design, and with the way my organizational skills have fallen completely by the wayside with two toddlers, two homeschoolers and my husband’s consistently changing work schedule, I need this! Oh please, oh please, oh please!!! 🙂

  99. I like the green with polka dots, I am a teacher and this would be great

  100. I like the striped organizer print. My granddaughter would love this with going to college this year.

  101. I love this idea!! Having kids in all of their activities sometimes gets a little crazy. At least with this little gem, we can keep oragnized.

    I love the Funky Floral print.

  102. I really like the floral design for the weekly organizer 2009. Great design!

  117. I love the dots but if I won I’d let my daughter choose since I’d give it to her!:)

  125. What an awesome site! Just found you – will definitely be back….Like any mommy with “mommy brain” knows, could definitely use the planner….love the dots 🙂

  132. I really like the stripes one – I am all about keeping things organized and one of these would be GREAT!!

  135. I like the striped one – and boy could I use one of these! We have twins – who do NOT do things at the same time, so a whiteboard on my fridge has become my best friend. Unfortunately, I’d look pretty funny toting that whiteboard around town!!

  137. The green dots. I will have three in school next year..K, 4th and 7th. Please help me!!! 😉 Oh, and they will all be at different schools too..

  141. The striped book looks like the beach chairs and beach umbrellas where we live. It would keep me thinking of the joys of summer all through the cold winter months!

  145. I like the weekly grid – enough room to keep track of EVERYTHING! The dots are super cute, but I like the stripes the best.

  150. I have never heard of these, but what a GREAT idea! The school year is so hectic for our family — keeping it organized has always been difficult.

  153. Okay, I’m totally loving the Funky Floral!!

    You don’t know how badly I NEED to get my scheduling practices organized!! I keep forgetting to be where I’m supposed to be! My mom even suggested I see a doctor!?!?! HAHA!

  156. I like the orange floral. My son will be in first grade next year and possibly sports. Anything to help keep me on top of things will be a blessing! Thanks!

  163. I like flowers. This year I have a 5th grader, a Kinder, and a Pre-K. Next year they will be at 3 different schools.

  167. I was so disorganized in school last semester! I plan on doing better this fall-this would sure help.I like the floral.

  170. I love the Floral and the Mosaic, but I’d probably choose the Mosaic as my favorite because I’d use it for personal and for work, and I work for a company named Mosaic.
    Thank you for sponsoring such a great giveaway!

  173. Another delightful giveaway. How fun! These are wonderful planners for home and school. Please enter me in your drawing. I like the “Stripes” design. Thanks, Cindi

  177. I like the stripes but actually wish the academic one came in mosaic. I have seen these but never gotten one, but as this is my daughters senior year I know things will be busy!

    Thank you for contest!

  180. ohh I love them all! How to pick one? I think I’ll go with Floral, it looks vibrant! Who doesn’t need some added pep in their step when going over the calander involving five children?

  181. I love the floral design. I could sure use this, as my life is very hectic! Thanks for the great giveaway

  182. Floral! I live out of my planner. In fact I have two of them, one on my desk for family stuff, in which I also put some personal stuff, and one in my room for the personal stuff – sometimes they overlap, sometimes they don’t. . .

    Heather ( Lalycairn @ gmail.com)

  193. I’ve been wanting to try one of these. Love both colors for this year, but would choose the stripes if I won.

  194. Love the stripes design the best! Hope I win one of these, I sure could use it!

  198. I love the floral design. How great to be able to plan in such a beautiful way

  199. I like the floral design. I am a very scheduled, plan oriented kind of a person. Thanks for the great giveaway!

  205. I completely love the Floral design. I don’t function well without lists so this type of thing is a must for me and this one is beautifully designed!

  206. I love the polka dots. This calendar looks great and I love that it’s fresh and new in August–what feels like the start of the year to me!

  207. Love the Stripes Busybodybook.
    Great to use for all of Tristans therapy appointments and doctors related appointments.

  210. I’d love any of them but need to start ASAP so prefer stripes!

    I love this system.

  213. I am in the process of trying to re-organize our time and find a way to keep it all the schedules together in one spot. These are terrific! I love the dots. I’m a polka dot kind of girl.

  214. I like the striped one! I am looking for a way to organize better and my son is starting school for the first time this year!

  215. I love the one with the stripes! I’d love to have one of these to help keep me organized – thanks for the giveaway! 🙂

  216. I know for a fact what a fantastic planner this is, I have 2 of them from the last two years, I can’t imagine my life without it. With 5 teenagers in my household it is a true lifesaver and I’ve never found anything remotely as great!
    I love that they have several design features now, I always decorated mine to reflect my own personal flair! I love the floral design!
    Thank you!

  218. I like the stripes design. I am going back to school after fifteen years. Between my full time job, school, my oldest daughter starting third grade and my younger two starting headstart, I could really use this organizer!

  220. I am definitely a polka dot kind of gal! I can’t do anything without my planner!

  221. I could totally use this! Not just as a mom to 3 boys, but as a teacher! My favorite design is “Floral”!

  224. Love the stripes! And, boy, do I need a system, help, whatever you want to call it! Now if I could only get somebody to bribe me with some nice dark chocolate to get everything done! Do they have a BusyBodyBook like that?

  225. I like the stripes. I’m always on the lookout for the perfect planner, this might be it!

  235. I like the sripes! I could definitely use this to help me organize my first year of full time homeschooling! Thanks for the giveaway.

  237. I love the mosaic the colors are so great! I’m going to have to look into the Wall Calendar…I wish I could get the fridge grid but we have a stainless steel fridge and it’s not magnetic.

  242. I love the stripes . . . and I’m in the throes of trying to figure out how to organize the upcoming year: Go with the type of calendar I’ve used before or try something new? Here’s to trying something new–with stripes!

  246. I love them all but for some reason I am drwan to the floral. It is peaceful, which I need some peace and lots of help being more organized and accountable zto myself. my 21 month old gIRl twin is helping right now~

  249. I love the floral cover design. It’s bright and energetic yet feminine. 🙂 What a great idea!

  251. I think I would love this! I’m a teacher, so I always think in school-year format. I prefer the striped cover… Thanks for doing the giveaway!

  253. Ooooh, I love them all, but if forced to choose then I guess I would say the “dots”.

  254. I love the stripes. I love my BusyBodyBook and I’m ready for a new one! 🙂

  260. I like the floral, or the dots. I’ve used this planner in the past, and really liked it!

  261. THe green dots please…my DIL with 3 kids and #4 on the way would really appreciate it!

  262. I love the Dots one. And I think I might order the wall calendar for DH. He’s got events for several departments to keep track of and we were just talking how it might help him to have one wall calendar up where he could keep track of it all at a glance. This is even better than just color-coding the entries.

  263. Oh, sign me up……I LOVE mine for this year. It’s been a huge help. I’ll take either design….surprise me!

  265. I like the green dots (but I LOVE the blue mosaic). It looks like a great system. I work from home and sometimes I have wee bit of trouble with time management.

    sabk224(at)yahoo(dot)com

  266. I like the green dots organizer! Great system!! Great giveaway! Thanks for offering!
    ~Tanya
    the4moyers at msn dot com

  268. I vote for the stripes. With my son starting Kindergarten in the fall (ack!) this would be perfect.

  271. I love the floral! I love having a planner for everyone – keeps my brain a bit clearer 🙂

  272. The stripes would be my choice. I have yet to find the perfect planner, this could be it!

  276. I have looked at this product before but never took the step to order it. It looks like a great system though! I would love to win one of those to try it out. My favorite is the polka dots! Thanks!

  277. I love the green with the dots too. I started using a planner three years ago, and it has made a tremendous difference. My mommy alzheimer’s has greatly diminished!

  278. I like the green with polka dots design. Going back to work in the fall and with two kids now in school I could sure use a good organizer.