My brain

My planner has changed amongst the years.

From small to big, from 3 ring to 6 ring to a spiral bound.

I have tried notebooks and...seriously a lot of different types, varieties and colors. I don't do digital because for me, I have to write it in my own handwriting. I am just not a tech girl!

I call my planner my brain because it remembers everything for me!

 However, right now I am so happy with what I have. It has been perfect for me and my needs.

So here are a few hundred pictures on how I organize my planner!

First off, the binder itself. It is a hard bound 3 ring binder. I believe it is an Avery brand, but now that the sticker is no longer on there...well I have no idea :) It was purchased at Wal Mart but I have also seen them at Target. It has a clear front and so you can slide things in the front & back. I have a picture of my kids on the front and a to do list on the back.

I do have to be careful not to wipe it off on accident!

In the front  pocket I have stickers. Stickers from a previous calendar, some smiley faces, and some of our family labels.

The first section I have is my calendar. I purchased the calendar pages  from the Martha Stewart line at Staples. It has a monthly overview page and than a 2 page spread for each week. On the monthly overview I don't really fill out too much. Unless it is like my husband being out of town for a week or longer.

However, the weekly pages are FULL! There are 3 sections every day for Morning, Afternoon and Evening. There are also 2 small squares at the bottom. I use those for my weekly meal plan and the zone that I want to work on that week. At the bottom of the page, I have a list of who is doing what for family night that week. That way we are sure to rotate it correctly! Then of course it is filled out with all appointments, meetings, activities etc. EVERYTHING!

Why won't this rotate?!

List for the side hee hee!

The volunteer tab, includes any info that I may need for the things I have volunteered for. I am a room Mom for two different classrooms, and I help out with Cub Scout day camp. That is all kept in that area. Things like email lists & phone numbers, schedules etc.

Contacts is pretty self explanatory! Although, with all the variety of therapists our family goes too, I do now have a section for business cards.

This sexy picture of my husband is what starts my "family section" of my binder. Under my husband's section, I have all of his work numbers, work address, command name, etc. Whenever I have to fill out paperwork, and he is not around, I can just look in that section and not bug him. LOL

Each child has a section with their school schedule (5 kids--->4 schools) phone numbers for their school, passwords & pins for their grade trackers, the names & numbers of any coaches, leaders and people in charge of their activities. I also keep teacher emails and schedules of activities. All those things that pertain to that child. Each kid has a pocket with their picture and in the pocket I will keep cards or tickets from their events. Just little reminders & keepsakes.

 

 

 

 

After my family, is the section just for me! It says CEO of Turner Inc. because that is literally what I am! This section includes my weekly schedule of family activities, the things that are the same week after week after week. I also have my daily routines (both evening & morning), things that need to be done on a weekly basis, my list of zones (a Flylady thing that I changed for my needs).

I also have a family section where I include,  a list of restaurants and my families favorites at each place (this has come in handy soooo many times!), clothing & shoe sizes, and any other little info that I tend to forget!

 I have a tab labeled "motivate me". I write thoughts, quotes and sayings that make me want to do & be better. I look at them whenever I need a little pick me up. It also includes nice things people have said to me.

The last section is for menus. I write the plan and then keep it in there. That way, if I am grocery shopping and haven't planned, I can look at those and get ideas & inspirations.

So, phew that was a lot! But I really wanted to go through it. It works so well for me. I can add and subtract as I go along. I have contemplated going to a soft bound binder of the same size but am still on the fence. I like the flexibility of the soft bound, but love having a place to put a picture on the cover. My family is the reason that I do what I do. So it is an awesome reminder for me. Plus they are pretty dang cute to look at :)

If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask! I would love to hear how others organize their crazy lives!

3/8-3/15 Meal plan

While I have been pretty good about planning meals the past couple of days...I haven't been great the past few...well, weeks.

I also notice when I WRITE IT DOWN (big shocker!!) that I eat/serve a more varied menu. A normal week in our home looks like this:

Monday--->husband leaves at 5ish for school

Tuesday---> husband home & Ethan and Connor have scouts

Wednesday---> husband gone & Harmony has church

Thursday---> husband gone & Ivan has Cub scouts

Friday---> husband doesn't get home at a regular hour, it varies

Saturday--->normally home

Sunday---> normally home

I really, really want to make sure that our family is able to sit down together for dinner on Tues, Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

So here is what I am planning for this week:
FRIDAY (aka today) : Panda Express (this is a fundraiser for the kids school)
Saturday: bbq ribs, mashed potatoes, vegi's (all these are coming directly from my freezer/stockpile)
Sunday: lasagna (freezer), garlic bread, salad (bread & salad on sale at Albertsons)
Monday: fettuchini alfredo
Tuesday: making a chicken in the crockpot, pasta salad
Wednesday: chicken tortilla soup
Thursday: pizza/leftovers
Friday: Mom & daughter date so it is up to the boys :)

Menu Making Tips

Is everyone having as crazy of a holiday season as I am? Life has been so busy! Going from one event to another. No matter how busy I am...my family still wants dinner.

Every.single.night.

Too often on those nights, I turn to a drive thru. Or call  my favorite pizza place. Not great on the budget, or the waist line, but at least everyone is happy, right?

Well...maybe not.

Are you someone who makes menus? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants every night?  Do you make a plan, and then don't use it because you don't have the items? Maybe your family doesn't like what you had planned?

Do you know why going out to eat is easy? Besides the fact that someone else is making it for you?

Because they have a menu!! Imagine this scene:

Mason when he is waiting for dinner!

It is close too (or past) dinner time. Kids & hubby are cranky and hungry. You pull into the drive thru of your local fast food restaurant and start to look at the menu board...and there is nothing there. You drive up to the window, and the employee says, "what would you like to order?" You have no idea what they serve and what they don't serve. Can  you get a taco or a hamburger? Sub sandwiches or pizza? What kind of drinks do they have? Is there a combo? It would make getting dinner a lot harder wouldn't it?

It is the menu that makes it easy for us. A number one meal with a diet coke. One kids meal with chicken, apples and a chocolate milk. See? Its easy.

Pretend your kitchen is a restaurant. No, I don't mean offer each person a different meal. I mean, plan out everything.

The main course? Sides? Bread/rolls? Dessert? Drink? Plan it out. Even if you don't have it written out before hand, at least have everything planned in your head :)

There can be a big difference in what we PLAN to eat and what we ACTUALLY eat, right?  If you plan to have lasagna, and you forgot to get it out of the freezer or realize you don't have an ingredient, and end up making scrambled eggs. We have all had that happen at least once, right? Well, I keep a dry erase calender board on my pantry door. Every night, one of the kids or I, write down what we ACTUALLY ate for dinner. Whether it was filet mignon or pancakes. Then at the end of the month, I write it all down. From the first day to the last. (**Note---> I have never served filet mignon**)

This helps me a ton! How many times did we out last month? Did we like the new recipe that was tried? Were there any requests? What about repeats? This is a true representation of what we eat. It is much easier to make my menu with this list in front of me.

Make sure you go through your stockpile/pantry/freezers before you step foot into a grocery store. You may be amazed at what you already have on hand!

How about you? Do you have any tips on planning menus? Sticking with a menu? I would love to hear how you manage the dinner hour!

menu planning

I was in Wal Mart the other day, when I found this magnetic dry erase board.

I had an idea for it, and so far, it has been working pretty well.

It is now my menu planning calender.

5:00 is the bewitching hour at our house. My husband isn't home from work yet, kids are getting hungry, we are doing homework, and getting ready for any activities...it is just crazy.

So now when I meal plan, I do it by my calender. For example:

Mon & Tues are pretty quiet days around our house. We do have family night on Mondays but unless we are going somewhere, it is not a rush. So I will plan something more "time consuming" for dinner.

Wed & Thurs are very busy. We have evening activities and run around like crazy. My boys also get out of school early on Thursdays. They are just busy days and leave me tired. So on those days I use my crockpot, a freezer meal, or something rrrreally easy like soup & sandwiches, hot dogs...

Fridays are a total relax day. We are all kind of doing our own thing and so it is usually a pizza night, leftovers or kids pick their own.

Saturdays are...well whatever works.

Sundays we don't get home from church until 4:30 so I try to do a crock pot meal or a freezer meal. We are all starving by the time we get home & no one wants to wait very long!

So I have started using this board to plan my menu's. Ben & the kids check it every day to find out what we are having. Even though I don't follow it perfectly, it is nice to have it down. I can also use my previous ideas if I am having a hard time figuring out what to serve.

I told the kids (and my hubby, of course) that if they have any requests to write them down. Well one day as I was walking by, I found a lot of the things I had written down, replaced (in my kids handwriting) with McDonalds or Panda Express.

Everybody is a comedian (;