Survival Mode

I think it must be a tradition for my crew to start off a new year with illness. This isn't the first year we've experienced winter colds in January. I suspect it has more to do with sugar overload and sleep deprivation than anything else...but what do you do? Even trying to limit sugar in December is a full time job.

In spite of the coughing, we're trying to get school done anyway. We'll be glad we pushed though come June. However, we're in survival mode here. Proof: my tree is still up. My dead live tree that is so dried out the needles are petrifying. The lights are still hanging outside. All the other decor is put away but I can't do the tree alone and my hubby won't be home to help until this weekend...so we work around it. Try to ignore it.

What I find is the quickest way to getting the house in some sort of order is to keep the kitchen clean. When everyone's sick and the housework piles up, having a clean(ish) kitchen is is lifesaver. Nothing is more defeating than realizing you have to wash silverware before you can serve the cereal you just poured milk into, especially if those cereal bowls are crammed onto the table with everyone's junk they just set down and leave behind. I might know this from experience. Lots of it, possibly.

No matter what the circumstances, when life starts to spin out of control, clean your kitchen and make sure your pantry is stocked. It just makes life feel more tolerable. Fly Lady says to always go to bed with a shiny sink and you'll wake up feeling on top of things. I so agree.  Even when  life isn't crazy, getting the kitchen behind you on your cleaning day can help you feel the rest of the day is a breeze.

Test this out and tell me if I'm wrong. It just feels good to have a clean kitchen.

Mom Hacks

Ashlyn at a recent karate tournament

Hi friends! I hope you are enjoying all the great parts of Spring-and that the pollen isn't hitting you like it has us. Between the smoke and seasonal allergies, we've used a lot of Zyrtec at our house in the last week!

Of course, with summer softball (baseball, whatever...I know there's a difference, I just don't care!), we're out in it more often. More often like every. single. night.

Ashlyn & Hope are both playing ball, with 2 practices each a week, plus Awana for a few more weeks, and karate on two nights a week plus Saturday afternoon. The mom taxi is a goin' nonstop right now!

Usually this would kind of kill me-I don't like running all over town, worrying about who's supposed to be where and how I'll get them any dinner-especially on nights like tonight when Hope's ball practice starts before dinner time, then she leaves it early to go to karate which won't be over until about 8:30. I know, I'm not usually that kinda mom...but for a few weeks during ball season each year I am, sorry!

Here are a few hacks that have helped me stay sane:

First and foremost, I AM NOT thinking about the games that will start in a few weeks. Games I will be attending with a super sized jogging stroller that is supposed to keep two little ones trapped, ahem, I mean, safe inside and a bored 5 year old. Usually, my sweet husband will not be able to attend, so I'm on my own--but again, I'm NOT going there right now!

Seriously, though when I'm not in denial, I try to stay on top of things with the following systems in place:

*menu plans that reflect the activities of the day. No big fuss meals when I have to drive kids to and fro.

*Snacks. I'm not usually a snack buyer or server ('cause I'm cheap), but on nights when a child might be in practice during dinner and have to eat late, a snack is in order. I've made a list of easy to make healthy snacks and try to stay on top of having them ready for the kids.

*Scheduling it all on the calendar. I started using Google Calendar to list all our stuff, it sends me an agenda via email each morning, so I know what we're having for each meal, who has practice, when & where, and any other notes. Shane can also add to it from work, so if he has something he needs to schedule, he can log in, check our schedule and add it.

*Keeping the gear organized-the girls have a drawer in their room for just uniforms. Karate gis, Awana vests (and books) all go here. Also, the other gear for karate goes in their gear bags and is hung behind the front door on the rack. It's much less stressful to find everything in one place than to run around looking for one piece of sparring gear minutes before class!

*Return basket-right by the keys near the front door is a pretty basket I bought from a thrift store. It holds all the things that need to go back to their owner-borrowed books, dvds, clothes for my mom to mend for us, swim suits left by girls spending the night (Brandi-that's C's suit! From last summer!). It makes it easy to return things (in theory-you have to remember to check it and keep your husband from putting his junk inside!).

There you have it! How I'm staying somewhat sane during the crazy days of Spring activities. Oh, and the BIG one, I have accepted offers to let other people bring my children home from their classes. Which also means I've let go of a little control and allowed them to go to practices ALONE (but I know all their coaches pretty well and Ashlyn now has a cell phone). I know, I'm sooo that kinda mom now! You would be too with a brood this size!

Tips from a Working Kitchen

The kitchen in my house is not just for looks. Next to the kitchen table, where school work is done, there's no place where more work takes place than in my kitchen. Although I've followed a lot of these practices since I was a newlywed (thanks to my Type A personality) they are now my lifelines.

Make your kitchen practical. Spices near your work station (you know, that piece of cabinet space where your mixing, spreading, and cutting takes place), big utensils near the stove, and like items grouped together.

Keep it clutter free. If you have to work half an hour to clear a spot just to make dinner, you're going to end up at McDonald's drive through-again. Even just keeping one area clutter free & wiped down will make you feel better.

Make a menu. Yes, it's a must to make menu plans for each week. Wandering aimlessly through the grocery store aisles wastes time, mental energy and money. You'll just end up back there tomorrow to pick up that one item you need to make dinner. Of course, you'll spend $20 when you only meant to pick up a can of cream style corn. I leave the kids with Daddy and Audrey, my list, my mp3 player and I go to the store. It's almost enjoyable!

Plan your eating around your week. I make out a menu that takes into account the week's activities. I plan my more exciting meals for Shane's days off. Wednesday nights just get a "back up meal" in case Awana & Life Group fall through (we all eat at our respective Wednesday night places). Easy meals are planned for days we'll be out of pocket all day.

Now, shop for your menu. The goal is to not go back to the store during the week. Shane almost always makes one little trip for me midweek, but my goal is to eliminate that. Organize your shopping list for your path around the store. It's frustrating to back track the aisles.

I'll admit that making a menu is my least favorite task of the week. I've found a few solutions to that. One is http://www.emealz.com/ which is a site that offers a weekly menu plan & shopping list for a minimal fee. I've also just made a list of my own dinner ideas, spending the afternoon flipping through cook books. My newest plan is to use http://www.allrecipes.com/ to build several weeks' worth of menus & shopping lists, leaving space in each week for our own family recipes.

Look for ways to grow in your kitchen. Maybe you've never done a menu plan, or cooking from scratch appeals to you. Why not try it? We've not had boxed cereal at all this month, which challenges me to cook a nice variety of healthy breakfasts. Using my new dutch oven and griddle are part of my growing right now as well. I'd like to learn to can someday.

Cookbooks are a lifesaver for me. I'll post soon about the treasures I've found. Until then, make your kitchen fun again! It feels so rewarding to put together a wholesome meal for our families. If you decide to stretch yourself a bit, leave a comment to tell us what you've done or feel free to leave other tips from your kitchen.

2009 Vision

I think it's important for moms, especially those who stay at home day in and day out to have a vision. The last year or so, I've had a vision for the year. Last year was Peace. I was in a funk emotionally and needed that peace. God showed me over & over last year much about peace.

This year, I feel He's prompting me to declare victory over some areas. I know I need victory over sugar. I would like victory over the details of handling our finances and staying on budget. I'm open to Him showing me more as the year goes on. This is not about making a perfect me in my strength, it's about allowing the Lord to grow me in whatever way he wants. It might be so small that no one else knows and that's okay, it's between me & my Lord :)

So, in keeping with this victory theme, here's what I'll be working on in 2009:

*Eating Fine in 2009 Challenge-no refined/artificial sugar

*Better Budgeting

Both of these will be spurred on by the Book Club I'm getting in on (see side bar button)-the first book is Your Money of Your Life. These books are cheap enough anyone can afford it, so go check it out at Simple Mom's site.

*Being on purpose more with the girls. Specifically: Ashlyn-touching more (it gets challenging when they aren't cuddly babies anymore), Hope-listening to better, Bethany-drawing her out more, Jaika-continuing to cuddle, Audrey-looking into her eyes & interacting, not multitasking.

*Stopping to smell the roses of my home-for me this means living more not just surviving. We have a bird feeder & new identification guides to help us get to know our feathered friends, I want to keep trying new recipes, and I'd like to do more crafts with the girls & maybe even just for my pleasure! (Denise get ready to come over & cook! I'm ready to get going!)

*Getting into the Word again (I'm not so good at this with a new baby!). I now own the One Year Chronological Bible, which I've been interested in for some time. Can't wait to get started-and I hope to make in past February this time!

*Finally, I need victory over my carpal tunnel. I've battled it for a few years, yet it went totally away when I was pregnant. I'm back to wearing the wrist braces but am still experiencing pain & numbness, which will keep me from learning some of the new crafts I am interested in. I plan to get a referral to a pain management doctor my OB uses for her carpal tunnel and if that doesn't work, I'm ready for surgery. I need my hands!

Does your family need Momma to have some vision? Does this idea get you excited or stress you out?

Two things I really want right now

1. I want to build an old looking farm house with vintage (or vintage looking) stuff.

2. I want to be a minimalist-not the zen type, the country type.

The farm house thing evolved from our longings for a log home. About 7 years ago, Shane presented me with log home brochures on Valentine's Day. We bought some land and moved to town. Kind of backwards, but that's how life works sometimes. We've been in town for 5 years this month but next year we are making a HUGE family effort to put every extra (and not so extra) dime towards debt so we can build in 2009.

Back to the farm house. Shane and I are big Smallville fans. Clark Kent (you know, Superman) grew up in this sunny looking, warm yellow farm house. After watching every epidode, I fell in love with the farm house look. In a way, it complements the home we live in now, which was built in the 1890s.

I don't want a "kountry bumpkin" home with home sewn bunny vacuum cleaner covers in mauve and country blue...I don't want a hunting lodge look either, I want a rustic, charming, simple farm house with eye pleasing lines and simple furnishings. After reading this blog, I have some concrete images to go with my tastes. This is a big step for me since for several years I've struggled to identify my style, I just knew what I liked when I saw it (old colorful quilts, simple handcrafted tables with notches and scratches, weathered wood in worn red, sage, brown, or robin's egg blue, mismatched old dishes...)

In my present home I'd love to be a minimalist. Rid my house of all unnecessary clutter. However, the reality is I can only start decluttering more so that we won't move into our new house with so much stuff. It's hard for me to judge how much stuff we have. You see, much of my Grandmother's belongings are still here. On top of that, some of the decor just naturally makes it visually busy (like the 2 rooms of darkish paneled walls), so even if it were bare, it would still look cluttered in a way. Also, I have 4.5 children (.5 is my cousin's baby Adri who's here each weekday, lol), who have STUFF. And Grandparents who like to give STUFF. And a husband who doesn't like to get rid of STUFF.

How do you rid your life of excess with a big family? I find the age range of my kids makes it hard to minimize their stuff. The toddler has her own set of toys, the middles play with Polly Pockets, and the oldest has big kid stuff-so that adds up to a lot of stuff!

My fantasy is to get my mom to watch the girls for a day while all my friends come over. A couple would help me pitch the junk while another one or two organized what was left. Another one would take all the stuff immediately to the thrift store. I'd also have unlimited cash and time to paint, redecorate, and replace mismatched or worn out furniture. Ahhhh...

Reality is-minimalizing takes work-continuous work. It's a great goal for our move. After all, I don't want STUFF in my Clark Kent farm house!

The best thing ever!

I've never done well with the grocery shopping method of walking the aisles planning my week's meals by seeing what looks good at the time. I hate the pressure of getting enough food or remembering everything I need without running back and forth across the store. Ughhh, even thinking about that makes me anxious!

Since we have a family of six, I can rarely just throw something together, I just don't keep enough of any one item on hand to feed us all a real meal. So, I make a weekly menu of lunches & dinners, then make my grocery list from my menu plan. I usually put the ingredients in a rough order with the flow of the store. I hate this weekly chore! Thinking of meals to make, thinking about all the ingredients gets soooo old week after week.

So, I was listening to Dave Ramsey the other day and there was an ad for e-mealz, which does everything I just described for you-except they do it better! They vary the meals so an not to repeat them, and they are seasonally appropriate! Also, on the shopping list is the price, so you know about how much you'll be spending. They try to keep it around $80. They have several options to choose from, like family or couple plans, points plans (for weight watchers), low fat, etc. Oh, and they're dirt cheap-$15 for 3 a months subsription!

I used it today for the first time and although in the future I'll take more time before shopping and probably adjust a few meals for out tastes, I love the idea of serving easy, good dishes without all the planning. If you're interested, you can check them out through the button on my sidebar.