Fives

So I fell off the face of the earth for a week...sorry. Our life can go from completely boring, to crazy in an hour!

enjoying some (rare)  free time at the pool

I have also been dealing with an issue, that is starting to work itself out. It used up my emotional energy and so I am still trying to get back to normal.

Speaking of getting back to normal, the only way that I know how to do it is routines.

Back to basics. I like to have 5 things on my morning, afternoon and evening routine. They are simple. Easy. But they help keep a bit of control...

Morning 5:
1. make bed
2. get dressed (no pj's!!)
3.prayer & scriptures
4. unload dishwasher (reload if necessary)
5. start a load of laundry

Afternoon 5: (usually after I pick up my son at 2:00)
1. clean up any lunch dishes
2. clean up homeschool table & work
3. reboot laundry
4. tidy up the living room
5. nap or rest time

Evening 5:
1. tidy up playroom
2. evening dishes/ kitchen clean up (my kids help)
3. clear off  table
4. plan out clothes for my younger kiddo's
5. start thinking about the next day (ex. lunches, appts, school work, activities, dinner...)

How about you? How do you recover after a busy time?

Daily Do's




 


To do lists. I make them. I ignore them. I use them...sometimes.

In my attempt to get more organized, I am going to start small. Small steps right? So my first thing is to create a list of 3 things that I want to do every day.

3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon and 3 in the evening. This will be the beginning of my routine and hope to add more to it as I go along.

I will also be adding 1 goal a day to increase my healthy habits!

Ready?
Morning:
*make  my bed-I make my bed  about 95% of the time. But I want to increase to a 100% bed maker (:
*straighten my bathroom (sometimes that curling iron stays on the counter all week...or longer!)
*unload the dishwasher (and reload if necessary)

After lunch (during Mason's nap time)
* 2 loads of laundry 100% complete. (Sort, wash, dry, fold and put away. It is the putting away that gets me everytime!!)
*dishes (load & reload as necessary)
*know what I am making for dinner (if I need to get meat out, or if there is something I can do ahead of time..)

Evening:
*clean kitchen (with help from my children)
*straighten living room (with help from my 6 yr old, older children will have their own jobs)
* plan lunches for the next day (Do I need to get bread out of the freezer? Refill water bottles? Etc)


Healthy Habit:
And my healthy habit I will be working on...uping my water intake!! I am so bad about drinking diet soda, and so I know I need to be drinking more water!! So for now, my goal is 64 oz of water daily (:

chore charts

Finally! I have been dealing with finding "the perfect chore chart" forever.

One day I was in the dollar spot at Target and...I found these. I figure if they don't end up working for us, I won't feel bad because I didn't spend an arm and a leg for them!

So far they are working well. One of my hardest problems is deciding how much each job is worth.

It is important for me to pay per job, not per week, or month whatever. It shows my children that if you don't do your jobs, you lose out that day.

These came with a pkg. of stickers. Ivan (5 y rs old) loves to see stickers accumulate on his chart. I also know that my other kids will make a competition out of it. One time, my oldest boy had a full chart where the others had a few here and there. The next week they worked a lot harder!


All I want is help around the house! They make 99.9% of the messes so...it is only fair.

Do you pay your children an allowance? If so, how much and how frequently?

Mine is a work in progress, and I am sure there will be a million changes before I figure it out!My favorite chore of all, written at the top, is "Moms Personal SLAVE!" LOL They don't think it is very funny though!

Head to toe

Every morning, before my kids are even allowed to put a toe into the play room, I ask them, "Are you HEAD TO TOE READY TO GO?" They know this means that starting with their heads....

Is my hair brushed?
Face washed?
Teeth brushed?
Clean shirt?
Clean underwear?
Clean pants/shorts?
Do I have my socks on?
Do I have my shoes on?
Are my shoes tied tightly?

I think it really helps them to have that visual. Instead of Mom just saying, "are you ready to go?!"

That's what works for me! You can head over to We are THAT family, to get more ideas and tips on just about every subject on the planet! (:

WFMW-after school routines

(One of the boys who was part of the problem!)

My house this morning:

"It is time to head out the door boys!"

" Mom, I have two papers for you to sign."

"Mom did you put my homework in my backpack? I can't find it."

Me: " did you boys do your after school routine yesterday?"

boys: " uhmmm..."

Kids thrive on routine. Knowing what comes next. When they go to school, they know that they get in their line, walk to their class, put their backpack on the hook, put their lunch bag in their cubby...etc. They always know what to expect.

Our afternoon routine looks like this:

***put your backpack on your hook

***take your lunch bag out and put it on the kitchen counter

***eat a MOM APPROVED snack

*** give Mom your folder

***homework

**put everything back in your bag that needs to go in there

Of course, once after school clubs start, life will get busier and we may have to adjust. But for now, that's what works for me!

***For more great ideas, go check out We are THAT family!

early mornings

(Mom's patient home from the hospital)



(One skinny foot and one swollen red foot)


The other day a friend of mine asked me, via Facebook, what time I get up. I try to get up at a quarter to five. I know that sounds really early but I am (and always have been) a morning person. My husband is a night owl...and yet we still make it work! LOL

Yesterday morning I got up at normal time. Took the dog out, showered, dressed, made my kid's breakfast and lunches, folded laundry, rebooted the laundry...woke my kids up and helped them get started on their day.

My son came into the kitchen complaining that his foot hurt. He is constantly getting growing pains so I figured that is probably what it was. He started putting his socks on when I noticed that his foot was completely red and swollen.

My husband was in the shower and so I ran in and told him I was taking our son to the ER. I grabbed the baby and my bag and ran out.

Because I had gotten up early, I was ready to go when my son needed me.

Because I had gotten up early, I could throw some muffins and juice in a baggie and cup and give him some breakfast.

Because I had gotten up early, my other kids were completely prepared to get in the car.

Because I had my car kit, I had a blanket, snacks, formula for the baby, a pen, notebook etc.

That is why I get up early. I can't imagine how much crazier my life had been yesterday had I not been up and prepared early!

BTW: he is fine! He has an infection in his foot but is getting antibiotics and the swelling is already going down!

chore charts

I have a verrry hard time delegating. I get frustrated when my kids don't do the chore the right way or when it seems to take FOREVER. I KNOW that I need to teach them. I know it is my responsibility to teach them to be responsible adults. This weekend my husband told me, " they need to have chore charts."

I have tried many different kinds. I have a routine that I have written out for them. But I also want them to help with certain things. Cleaning the kitchen, cleaning bathrooms, the living room etc.

I think what I have a hard time with is when they have to go places in the evenings. For example, every Wed. my boys have Cub Scouts. As soon as their Dad gets home from work, they eat dinner and then head off. By the time they get home it is usually 8 or 8:30 and they are exaughsted. My oldest actually falls asleep on the drive home!!!

So when would I have them help? Before they leave? That is at 6pm, where we still have over an hour before bedtime...

Does anyone have any ideas?I need a system that works but I am not sure what to do.

road map

As I have been reading about getting my home clean and organized, there is one thing that I find repeated over and over again. That is that you need to have a routine. Something really basic. I have tried to have routines. I have. For example I will have a morning routine that looks like this...

Make bed
unload dishwasher
start load of laundry
make breakfast

And I know what you are thinking. That seems pretty easy. And it does. But...what happens? I will get up and Ben will be asleep. So I can't make the bed! So I will go unload the dishwasher. I will think yeah I am on a roll. I go in to start a load of laundry but wait, we haven't taken showers. I don't want to use the hot water on laundry. I will wait on that and go to make breakfast. But then one of the kids wakes up and I haven't made anything. So they eat cereal and then the milk gets spilled and we have to clean it up but they got it on their uniform shirt so now I have to send them back upstairs...you know what I mean? Or I sleep in. Or someone gets sick. Or I spend too much time checking my email or, or, or...you know what I mean? LIFE gets in the way of my routine.

BUT I see the importance of a routine. I was looking at a fun site called simplemom and in her back to basics she talks about designing your routine around your day.

This is much more fitting to me. Every day is different for me. And now that Mason is here, and to young for a schedule...well things are kind of a mess.

The only things I know for sure today (time wise) is that I need to leave our house around 4:15 to pick Harmony up from camp. I also know that Mason gets fussy every day around 5. Of course...dinner time.

So my road map for today? (and btw Mason is asleep)
**finish blogging :)
**start a load of laundry (showers are already done)
**do a load of dishes
**plan and make as much dinner as I can during the day

As time (or should I say kids?)allows:
**sweep floors
**clean out van
**put laundry away (mine, towels &blankets etc)
**vacum living room

Kids jobs for today:
**put their laundry away
**living room clean up
**whatever else I come up with...

What about everyone else? Do you follow a routine or just go with the flow and do what you want?

Making your Home a Haven

Oh how happy I am!! I missed the Making your Home a Haven series the last time it was done. So I was really happy when I looked on Biblical Womanhood and found that it was on again!

This morning the challenge was too pick 5 things that you want to have as your morning routine. I am the kind of person who tends to have a list of 15 items on her routine, and than only gets 1 or 2 done! So I am excited to start small and go from there! So here are my morning five...

**Normally I would have laundry & dishes as a first thing in the morning BUT we are having water heater issues. I have talked to our housing (we are in military housing) and they have told us it is "fixed." Such is not the case though. So I don't do anything having to do with water until after my DH has taken his shower! :)

1)make my bed
2)"swish and swipe" (Flylady's term) the Master bathroom
3)gather up all dirty clothes from upstairs
4)make kid's lunches
5)unload the dishwasher & reload if necessary

overwhelmed

October was the last time I posted? Hmmm...that is interesting. I wonder if it has anything to do with me finding out I was preggo at the end of the month? Hmmm, something to think about.

The last 3 months have been an overwhelming time for me. Morning sickness hit fast and hard. Not to mention being absolutely exaughsted 99% of the time. A busy holiday season. 4 kids in various activities. A husband who is always busy with his work and church committments and well...life can get very crazy.

It is the middle of January, and I am already looking ahead to February. It will be a busy month for me. Very busy. I have to finish up Cub Scouts & prepare for the Blue and Gold Ceremony. My son in a different cub scout den was picked to be the den's assistant for the month. Which means I am the den's assistant for the month! My Mom is coming (yeah!), Girl Scouts has picked up again, I am teaching in our Primary all month (sharing time)oh and I have 3 birthdays in February. Whew. It kind of makes me tired just thinking about it.

Well I know that I can't go how I have been. I just can't. It's too tired and too stressful. So what is my plan? A routine. This is not easy right now because I am having a hard time waking up in the morning!But I know how much it helps for me to get up before my kids. So here we go, this is my plan!

**5:30 wake up time, take a shower and get dressed for the day
**start a load of laundry
**unload dishwasher
**make kid's lunches
**prayer and scripture time
**get breakfast together for kids

To be honest, this is all I am going to plan for now. I know it doesn't sound like much but we all have to begin somewhere!