What a glorious day!  The temperature is perfect.  The humidity is low (a very welcomed change for us!) The skies are blue and not a cloud in sight.  A hint of autumn is in the air.  The kids are even playing peacefully together.  Ahh…if only everyday could be like this.

It is five o’clock and I’m wondering if I should be in a frenzy cleaning up from the day, getting ready for dinner and thinking about what I didn’t get done.  No. Today is not a day to fret over what I didn’t cross of my list.  Today is a day to be thankful and rejoice over what was accomplished.

I didn’t get the floors mopped, but I did spend time helping my daughter with her history project.

I didn’t make it to the book store, but I did take the kids to the park for a while.

I didn’t clean the bathroom, but I did have a great cup of coffee out on the porch this morning.

I didn’t write blog posts for the week, but I did make lists for our family trip next week.

I didn’t get a big workout in, but I am planning a great walk with my family after dinner or maybe a game of catch.

I hope you had a wonderful day full of important accomplishments you can be thankful for, too!

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I’m linking up with iFellowship today

One question I get a lot is how do I keep up with the housekeeping.  It is a topic we all know too well and if we are too busy, if can get away from us fast.  In fact, it was researching methods to keep my house clean with out driving my family and I crazy that got me going on this online “anti-busy” journey.  I discovered there were other women out there who also wanted to keep the busy out of their lives.

One way I discovered to keep busyness at bay was to stream line the whole housekeeping process.  I used several methods and finally came up with a hybrid all my own.  I find that separating housework into daily chores, weekly chores and big projects make my life simpler and my house cleaner.  And, I don’t do all the work myself.  The kids have to pull their weight!

Before I started looking for a new system, I would wait until my house was unbearable (or friends were coming over) to clean and it would take me an entire day.  During and after which I was not a happy camper – nor was anyone else.  This system keeps my house clean, my family and I happy, and teaches my kids responsibility.

Daily Chores
These are easy common sense chores that are now done out of habit.  A few of these habits were hard to form, so I had to write them down on strategically placed sticky notes until I got them down.

• If you get something out, put it away.
• Wipe the bathroom counters when you are done getting ready.
• Sweep the kitchen and dining area after each meal or snack.
• Clean off kitchen counters and sink before bed
• Put away anything that doesn’t belong in the living room away before bed
• Put a load of laundry in the wash first thing in the morning. Put it in the dryer after getting ready.  Put it away after breakfast.

Weekly Chores
The weekly chores only take an hour or two around here because “many hands make light work”.  I choose a morning to clean when both kids are at home.  To make sure they are motivated, I usually chose a morning when we have something fun planned in the afternoon.  If the work gets done, we get to participate.  If the work doesn’t get done….well, you know.  The key here is to plan the day when I plan my week.  If I don’t plan it ahead of time, it probably won’t get done.

I make lists for the kids and myself.  They are like their mamma.  They like to cross and check stuff off lists.  Here is a sample of the kids’ chore list.

Dallas (9 years old)

• Clean kids bathroom toilet
• Clean bathroom counter
• Fold and put away your clothes and towels
• Vacuum stairs
• Vacuum downstairs

Dane (5 years old)

• Clean bathroom mirror
• Clean tub
• Fold and put away your clothes and towels
• Vacuum upstairs hall and kids bedrooms
• Dust downstairs

Me

• Vacuum master bedroom
• Wash sheets
• Sweep and mop kitchen, dining and entry
• Clean master bathroom
• Clean downstairs bathroom

We can knock that out in 2 hours – easy! Usually, we are much faster.  The whole house is clean.  Everyone is happy and we still have the whole day ahead of us!

Big Projects

When it comes to those big projects like cleaning out the closets, re-organizing the kitchen, or cleaning out the basement, I schedule them into my week and break them down into small pieces.  Looking at one of those types of projects on its own can be really intimidating.  Many times, we don’t want to start a project because we think it is simply too large to accomplish.  However, if we look at it once piece at a time, it looks totally do-able.

I’m going to use this week’s project as an example of how I schedule and break down a project.  Sunday nights I plan my week ahead.  I plan my meals, my appointments, homeschool and my weekly project.  Some weeks are simply too packed already and I skip the project.  As long as the necessities get taken care of I’m fine.  This week, I noticed our master suite needed some attention.  It tends to get overlooked.  Here is my plan to get it back in shape.

Monday – clear off night stands and dressers, dust, put away stuff that accumulated there

Tuesday – vacuum under bed and behind furniture, clean doors and trim

Wednesday – Clean ceiling fan and blinds, wipe down cabinets

Thursday – deep clean shower and tub (more than just the weekly wipe down)

Friday – Clean night stands

If your project is bigger, take more than a week. Last January, I took the whole month and re-organized my kitchen drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf.  Just a little each day.

Creating Your Own System
Is there a perfect housekeeping system?  I don’t think so.  What works for me might not work for you.  My system is a mix of several systems.  I had to try a few out to see what worked for my family and I.  If you are searching, keep trying. Don’t get discouraged.  Don’t try and copy the experts if their plan doesn’t work for you.

Do you have a plan you’d like to share with  us?  I’d love to hear about it!

Last week, I messed up.  My menu was too good and now my family is spoiled and will expect those kind of meals each week!  Last weeks menu was all about making enough food to share – recipes that were easily doubled.  And since I was sharing the meals with friends who had just had a baby, I wanted the meals to be really good ones.  They were.  So, this week. I might be in trouble!

When I double meals, usually it comes out to be more than double and there is plenty of left overs.  We found that to be true last week, so there were a couple meals that didn’t get made last week that I will carry over to this week.  One night, I substituted a meal I had in the freezer for a meal on my plan and another night we went out to eat.  All in all, last week’s menu was great and having left overs was wonderful.  There are some nights that I only have time to warm something  up rather than cook a full meal.  I need to think about those kind of meals more often.

Here is the meal plan for this week. I did carry a couple meals over from last week and went back to some meals on the grill.  The weather is supposed to be awesome!!

Grilled chicken, Dad’s potatoes, tomato basil salad

Black beans and rice, guacamole, homemade tortillas

Grilled sausage, grilled squash and peppers, rice

Pasta in alfredo sauce, salad

Grilled pork chops, steamed green beans, spaghetti squash

What are you feeding your family this week?

Need more ideas? Check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.

Ouch!  That’s quite a thought!  Check out more about setting a good example for our daughters on my post at the MOD Squad blog.

It’s not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted. ~ Mary O’Connor

photo source

She had the baby by c-section and none of their family can be here until next weekend.   We are the closest thing they’ve got here, so we have the privilege of helping the new parents settle in this week with the new little one!  And, by settle in I mean cook enough food for a small army just to make sure they know they are loved!  That’s what family does.

My hubby loves when I have to cook for people.  It means that he will eat good, too.  I even had him help me plan the menu.  We had four main criteria to follow: 1) It has to be easy to prepare.  2) The recipe has to be easily doubled.  3) It has to be comfort food. 4) It has to be easy to transport. Here is the menu we came up with:

Curry chicken (crock pot recipe), rice, green beans (fresh/steamed)

Grilled chicken, roasted garlic potatoes, tomato basil salad

Spinach stuffed shells, salad, bread

black beans and rice, homemade tortillas, guacamole

BBQ pork sandwiches (crock pot recipe), cucumber salad, hashbrown casserole

I am getting so hungry just thinking about it!  But, I just realized I’m missing something.  A menu like that needs desserts!!  Any good desserts you’d like to share?

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I’m linking up to Menu Plan Monday at I’m An Organizing Junkie.

“The devil is a theif and one of the things he thoroughly enjoys is stealing our time.”

Joyce is the one who inspired me to start this quest to overcome busy years ago with a cassette (yes, cassette!! I told you this was years ago!) of hers titled “Are you busy or fruitful?”  I found it interesting that she included those thoughts in the “I Dare You” book as well.  It just goes to show that busyness can interfere in many areas of life.

Busy steals our time

Joyce makes a point that busy is a tool that Satan uses to get us off track and to steal our time.  There is a Corrie Ten Boom quote I like.  “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” Sometimes, it doesn’t take blantant sin to rob us of what God has for us.  Sometimes we miss it because we fill our lives with worthless stuff – busyness.

Busy steals our freedom

When busyness gets a hold of us, it can put us into bondage.  Christ came so that we can be free from bondage, so why would we want to put ourselves in that position?   Instead of living in His peace, busyness causes us to live in chaos and stress.  Another quote from “I Dare You” is, “If you don’t learn to follow your heart and the Spirit of God, you will always live under pressure.” How can we follow God and the desires he puts in our hearts, if we are too busy?

Don’t let Satan steal what God has for you!  Make a conscious effort to overcome busy!

With my kids, I always have something for my kids to snack on after school (whether they go  to school or stay home – more on that later)  Although, I have to admit, I do get into a rut sometimes.  It seems they get tired of wheat thins or yogurt everyday.  I have found these simple tips help me to not disappoint my kids and ensure that they have something to fuel up with after a hard day of learning.

1) Make a list. List all the snack possibilities you have available for your kids.  Think of it as your snack menu.  That takes the irritation out of the never ending – “What do we have to eat around here?”   Adjust your list as you run out of items so that you can see when you need to restock.

2) Think outside the box. When a lot of us think of snack foods, we think of stuff that comes in little boxes or bags.  Potato chips, cheetos, hostess cupcakes…that kind of stuff.  I call that fake food.  For the most part, those foods have no nutritional value.  They can be loaded with preservatives and chemicals.  If we are looking for a snack to fuel us up, then these are not good choices – at all.  Instead of looking for the typical processed snack foods, think fresh foods.  Fruits, veggies, fresh dairy or minimally processed foods.

3) Get creative. Look at old favorites in new ways.  Try making fruit kabobs, tortilla wraps, or meat and cheese roll-ups.  Make a new dip for fruits and veggies.

4) Ask your kids what they like. Get your kids involved with the snack choices.  Is there something that they have had at a friend’s house that they would like to have at home? Is there something they would like to try? Take some of the burden off yourself!

5) Designate a snack shelf. We have always had a special snack shelf that the kids knew that they had full access to.  They don’t have to ask if they can have a snack if it is on that shelf.  I try to keep this shelf as healthy as possible and I rotate snacks in and out so it doesn’t get boring. Right now on the shelf, there are dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, wheat thins and homemade granola bars.

6) Get help. There are lots of snack cookbooks and websites with great snack ideas out there.  I just found this list of ideas from Delish.com.  My favorite snack cookbook right now is “Healthy Snacks To-Go” from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship.  I reviewed this book back in July and we are still enjoying the recipes and snack ideas.

Hopefully, these tips will help you make snack time a fun, healthy time at your house that your kids will look forward to.

Got any snacking tips to share? I’d love to hear them!!

It’s not like I had big, fun-filled plans for the kids and I today, but I did have plans together.  Plans that did not include a computer or the internet.  We cleaned the kids rooms.  We cleaned the living room and vacuumed.  We built a house out of blocks.  We played dominoes.

It is late afternoon now.  My daughter went to work with my hubby and my son is playing quietly.  Reflecting on the day, I was inspired to write this.  Blogging is good and I had a good post planned for today, but sometimes we have to make a decision and choose the BEST over the GOOD.  Today, I am happy to say I chose the best.

I’ll share the post I had planned for today with you next week.  Have a great weekend and choose the BEST!