Back in the Saddle

We are finally in the swing of things again...organized chaos; thus the reason for no recent posts. We are on somewhat of a decent school schedule, but our household schedule is lacking. I heard from not one, but two friends this week about their new schedules...*sigh*...I guess that is confirmation that it is high time for me to get mine together too :o).

The schedule system that I like to use is a mix of MOTH and my Home Management Binder. I use them as guides because every family is different. You have to do what is right for your own family. In the past, I have ben caught up in trying to do someone else's schedule or method. I have finally figued out that I don't have to do what doesn't work for us.

The cold and the snow is not helping my boys with their craziness activeness. These boys just plain need to run. The weather will be better today so out they will go!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Re-organizing!

We had a great day of putting our home back together today. Whew! It needed it so bad. With Christmas get-togethers, Jason not being home much (he works at Fed-Ex....during the holidays we didn't see much of him!), and all the new stuff we carted into our home over the last week or so. It was a MESS. My mother-in-law has always told me that everything should have a home, if it doesn't have a home, it needs to go. Boy, that has been a hard one for me :o) You can call me Laura Pack Rat. But we went through the house, room by room and put things in their home, and even packed away most of the Christmas decorations. I still have to take down the lights outside...I will do that tomorrow since the weather will be fairly nice.

Have you noticed that this is the time of year that all the stores sell their totes, tubs, containers, and stuff? Go on and get a few and organize something! Shoe boxes work well too, but I like the plastic containers so I can see inside, especially for toys. You won't only enjoy having things put in their proper place, but children do too (even if they won't admit it). They actually enjoy them more when they are playing with one set of toys versus the huge toy box full of mis-matched toys, books, clothes, gum wrappers, cups (or was it just my kids' toy box that had all that junk??)

If you want to get real crazy, try this! We took all the boys' toys back in August and separated them into the big rubbermaid tubs. We have a matchbox car tub, train set, legos, etc... in which we keep in the garage. Every week or two, we bring out a different tub and rotate toys that way. After the new-ness of the new toys they got for Christmas wear off, we will incorporate them into this system too.

I really want to get back to my home management binder. I think I will spiff it up this week and get it going before we start school back up.

Been busy and other stuff!

I have been sooo busy the last 2 weeks! We have finally gone through every drawer, closet, shelf, box, and Rubbermaid tote in our house. I am still shocked at how much stuff that we have accumulated. We could open our own Stuff-Mart. NO MORE. We are simplifying and that's that. We still need to sort some toys that we put into the garage and tie up some loose ends but we got the bulk of it done.

And, I'm even caught up on laundry.

Tomorrow is the BIG day. That is one reason that we have been working so hard to get the house organized. The big day...school is back in session. I am excited to get back into a routine. For some reason, I can't seem to get into a routine in the summer. Schedules are out the window! We stay busy being bored :o( But the beginning of a new school year is a fresh start for me. Regular menu planning, school, laundry & cleaning schedule, learning more about healthy eating, etc... I can't wait!

Each new school year brings on a different twist, with different family dynamics. This year, I will be teaching 9th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, and 1st grades and I will do some Pre-K work with my youngest. This will be the first year that I don't have a baby or toddler around. I told my oldest daughter that this will be our best school year yet! She reminded me that I say that every year.

Happy back to school time to you all :o)

Simplifying Laundry

I am SO loving my new laundry system!!! I just can't say enough about it! In a previous post, I told you about my new Home Management Binder. I have just completed my second week with my laundry system. I only have to wash Monday-Thursday for all 8 of us. We always have clean clothes and I am not stressed having to laundry over the weekend, which = more time with my family.

Here is another "good problem" to have. We just plain have too much stuff! This past week was kitchen week and yesterday I cleaned out all the bottom cabinets in my kitchen. Wow! For example, I condensed this:

To this:

This cabinet and drawer are right next to the sink. I have about 10 regular dish towels here and 4 of the bigger size that I like to use for laying wet dishes on after washing. In the drawer, there are about 10 dishcloths. I may have gone overboard :o) Just in case I got rid of too many, I did keep some back in a grocery bag. I will re-evaluate on Tuesday, when I wash towels. If it works out, the bag goes out!

Ahhh....so freeing! Simplifying. I will be weeding out our clothes also. I am on no time schedule. I will do it as I go with the laundry. We simply have too much. When you have a hard time shutting drawers, finding hangers, etc...just because all the laundry is clean, then you have too much!

I thought of another idea too. Since I have no laundry to do on Friday, I had scheduled Fridays to clean the laundry room. I decided to make that my sewing/mending day too! Since I will have a clean laundry room, I will have room to sew!! No more dragging my sewing machine upstairs to the dining room; I now have a place. Our house is somehow getting bigger lol.

Why didn't I think of all this 15 years ago?

Home Management Binder

I have been reading Candy's Blog and I ordered her ebook with some of my birthday money! The best money I have spent! I have been studying her Home Management Binder system with excitement! I have tried various things over the years to get organized (I was certainly NOT born organized!!) and this system is wonderful!

I have been working on my own binder for a little over a week now, but implementing some of the items for a few weeks. I am glad to say that my laundry is all caught up. This was one of my goals. I started a laundry system that looks something like this:

I have tweaked it a little as there was a LOT of wash to do on Monday (all the bedding and towels, and then not much on Tuesday. Other than that, it is working beautifully. Today is Thursday and I have one load to finish drying and all of my family's laundry will be clean, folded and put away! This usually only happens about once or twice per year. Now I will also have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday without worrying about any laundry for the 8 of us. Can you tell I am excited?

Here are a few other sections of my binder:

For my schedules section, I have daily items, laundry, and "Focus cleaning", kind of like the Flylady zones. They have been rearranged to fit our family's needs. That is part of the beauty of this system, customize it to to fit your family.

I do not have these completed yet. My plan for the medical section is to keep records of my diabetes stuff (6 month check up numbers, eye exams, etc), the children's doctor visits, medications, dental visits, orthodontist visits, etc... But, another part of my medical section will include my findings on biblical health. I have been studying for about a year about being healthy and what God's best is for us regarding foods, gluttony (Many Christians' "pet" sin-including me for so many years), exercise, spiritual health, and some natural remedies. It has been very interesting so far! I hope to get it all put together for a downloadable Bible study sometime in the future.

My zippered pouch to hold my post-its, stamps, pens, etc... I plan on adding a few more sections but I want to complete what I have so far.

Time to organize!

Orgjunkie.com is having a challenge! For the month of February, the focus will be on the kitchen. Whether it is a drawer, cabinet, closet, pantry, or even the whole room. I know I will be taking the challenge!! Check out Org Junkie to get all the details! I will be concentrating on my cabinets. Are you up for the challenge?

Menu Planning!

'Three Meals a Day...'

When my children used to ask me around 3:30ish every day, "What's for dinner?" I would reply, "It's a surprise!"--because I wouldn't know myself!! A few years ago, my husband suggested that maybe we could have dinner at the same time every day. It would be a beginning step to have an orderly day. The same time?! That was asking a bit much. You see, I am disorganized at heart. Thankfully, my husband has lots of patience and grace! I have gotten much better, but still have a lot to learn. I want to share something that has helped me tremendously. A MEAL PLAN!

1. Menu planning has wonderful benefits. You know exactly what you are having so you know what you need at the grocery store.


2. Because of #1, you are saving money (if you stick to your list, in other words NO IMPULSE BUYING!)


3. You will eat healthier (no pre-packaged meals)


4. A balanced diet


5. No more rushing around at 7:00pm trying to figure out what to have


6. No more cereal for dinner :o)


7. When you add the same time of eating everyday to this, no more whining kiddos

Those reason should be enough! If you would like to see more reasons to meal plan, click here!

To begin, use what you have! Inventory your pantry, cabinets, and freezers. You might be surprised! When my husband suggested we do this, I was quite shocked to find that we had 32 lbs of chicken and 15 lbs of ground meat (plus other meat) in our chest freezer (yes, thirty-two). The conversation went something like this:

Jason: "did you know you had 32 pounds of chicken in the freezer?!

Me: "well, no, but I only bought it when it was on sale!"

In other words, if you inventory first you won't have 32 lbs of chicken with nothing to cook for dinner.

To inventory, break it down into categories: Freezer items would be: meats, vegetables, fruit, and misc. Pantry items: canned goods, boxed/bagged items, condiments, snacks, breakfast items, baking items, beverage items (like coffee, tea, kool-aid, etc). It is always easiest for me to see something on paper. Write it all down!

Next, sit down with a few favorite cookbooks, favorite Internet recipes, or magazines (I love the Kraft Food & Family magazine! It comes every quarter and it is FREE. To sign up, click here. Also have with you a calender with large blocks to write in. I created on of these that I use weekly. You are welcome to download it here.

Fill in each block with a meal! Also, if you are using the calender, you can see dates that you may have something planned and therefore you can make it a crock pot day, etc. The calender that I made has slots for desserts and snacks. You don't have to have desserts and/or snacks every day! We don't, but the slot is there when needed. Make the system uniquely yours. You know what is best for your family!

It may take a little getting used to, but try it for a whole month. It is generally best if you make your meal plan on the same day each week. Try to do it the day before going grocery shopping. I seem to always get sidetracked if I try to do it the same day as shopping.

You might want to also include a leftover day. Another money saver. Keep your leftovers and have buffet night or throw it all into a soup or casserole! Yum! Have fun!