Homemade Fun for the Little One!

Have I mentioned before how much I love Pinterest?  Because I really really do.  Ask any stay at home parent and they will say that at some point, the days get long.  We have a basket of toys for Aidan to play with, stuffed animals to wrestle, books to look at, but somehow he still seems to get bored.  I don't really want to go buy a lot of new toys all the time--we don't have space for them, and he'll outgrow them relatively quickly.  Plus, so many toys out there are full of flashing lights and sounds, which aren't always bad, but I want him to get used to playing with things that he can interact with more, that don't just flash at him.  I was reminded this week of a MOPS speaker we had this past year who spoke on the importance of play, and how play is the primary means through which children learn.  She stressed that play does NOT need to involve fancy toys or expensive items, but rather can involve the most average every day house hold items and a little imagination.  She made us practice playing with empty yogurt containers (you can build very cool things with them!), tops of snapple bottles, piles of yarn and fabric scraps (the textures are awesome!), blocks, dice, styrofoam packing peanuts, empty water bottles, etc.  The skies the limit, really!  My little one still puts everything in his mouth, so I needed to come up with some things for him to play with that wouldn't hurt him--obviously he's too young for the pile of buttons or dice!  Thanks to Pinterest and a friend of mine (Pediatric Occupational Therapist Christie, of the fantastic blog MamaOT--check it out if you haven't, she has amazing tips and ideas!) I came up with some fun new things for Aidan that didn't cost much at all, and will help expose him to new textures and senses.  

The first thing I made were some sensory bags.  I got this idea from the blog Growing a Jeweled Rose's post on sensory play ideas for babies which has amazing ideas on it.  I went to the 99 cent store and bought 4 bottles of various substances that are cool textures--two bottles of hair gel, a bottle of blue body wash, and a can of shaving cream.  

I also wandered their toy aisle and the clearance bins that Target has at the front of their stores and came up with objects that would look cool and have different textures--my favorite are the beaded necklaces. 

Grab some ziplock bags--I used the freezer ones because they seem to be a bit thicker.

Prop the bag inside something so it doesn't tip over and spill while you're trying to fill it

Add a bottle of the squishy stuff and whatever objects you want--this one is my favorite, the magnetic numbers floating in blue body wash.  

I double bagged mine so little teeth won't puncture holes in them, and reinforced the top with tape.  From there, just squish and play!  The texture is very fun, and when he's older he can have fun searching for certain numbers or objects as they move around the bag.  The soap worked the best, I do have to say I wouldn't use hair gel again.  It's not as moveable, but the soap is awesome and even creates bubbles as you squish the bags.  Aidan isn't quite sure what to do with the bags yet, but I think he'll eventually have fun with them

I love the feel of the beads--but like I said, I wouldn't put them in hair gel again, I'd do body wash or other soap.  With the shaving cream I didn't put any objects in the bag, just a bag of shaving cream to squish around, I love it--it's very entertaining for me at least!

Another new toy I brought out is one I actually made before he was born and it's been hanging on his wall since then.  He just started noticing it a couple weeks ago, so I took it off the wall and let him explore.  I found this photo display chain at Ikea for $2.00--5 squares of plastic that let you put photos in them (double sided) connected with wire to make a long chain.  I laid it on the floor and he has a great time turning the squares over, chewing on them, and looking at the faces of his family members I've put in them.  Super easy and I love that he's being exposed to the faces of people who love him even if they are far away.

My other toy I created yesterday were a bunch of sensory bottles.  I bought the small water bottles, and went through Michaels and picked out about 5 different things that would be fun in water.  So I found little puffy pom poms that look cool, different beads, googly eyes, and sequins.  I put one of these objects into each bottle and glued the tops shut so he can't eventually figure out how to get them open.  They are very fun--the objects spin and float in the water as you shake or roll the bottles--definitely an easy way to keep him entertained for a bit!

My last invention (not that original I will admit) is to use the same little water bottles and fill 3 of them with colored rice.  I dyed the rice yesterday (just add several drops of food coloring to a plastic bag with about a cup of white rice and mix--then spread on a plate to let it dry a bit before putting it inside the bottles).  These are his favorite toys so far--he definitely likes the way the rice shakes and rattles inside the bottles!

There you have it, super easy ways to entertain a little one using objects you can find right in your own cupboards!

Oh Pinterest...How I love Thee

I'll admit it.  I've become a bit addicted to Pinterest this week.  If you're still out of the loop and haven't figured out what Pinterest is, it's essentially an online bookmarking site where you can "pin" things you find from around the web onto your own bulletin boards to make finding them again nice and simple.  It's as if you were bookmarking a favorite page in your internet browser, only you're doing it online and other people can see what you're bookmarking--and you can see their pins and "repin" them for yourself.  It's amazing.  The ideas out there blow my mind sometimes.  I've been pinning a lot of things this week, and then decided it was high time I start actually trying them!  So here's the round up of my pinterest attempts this past week:

Our car needed a garbage solution, and lo and behold Pinterest had just the solution!  I bought a tupperware cereal container and put a trash bag in it.  The lid keeps the trash inside even if it tips over and it's the perfect size!

Apartment carpet is just crappy.  It traps dirt like no other (and we even have a no shoes policy!)  Needless to say our entry way and traffic area always looks dingy and dirty and it drives me crazy.  I went searching for how to clean your carpet (without renting a steam cleaner) and found this idea that worked like a charm.  Mix one part ammonia (yes it stinks to high heaven, open doors and windows if you try this!) and one part HOT water in a spray bottle.  Spray liberally on the spot you wish to clean, cover with a white rag or towel and iron it.  In seconds the towel will turn dirt colored under the iron and the spot will be gone.  It was amazing!  

I have always been a good water drinker, but now that it's getting hotter and I am nursing the babe just as much as ever I am finding myself more thirsty than I should be at the end of each day--which means I'm not drinking enough throughout the day.  I loved this idea.  I didn't use 2 water bottles, just my 1 32 oz nalgene but I wrote the times of the day at various marks on the bottle so I am spreading my water drinking out.  It's been super easy to consume 3 large nalgenes a day these past few days this way--almost 100 ounces of water, and I feel MUCH better!

 I kept pinning all these recipes but never made any of them.  Until this week--I've made 4 this week and all of them were delicious!  This was dinner the other night and my plan was to have leftovers.  We didn't.  It was that good.  A super easy pasta dish with sliced chicken, sundried tomatoes, regular tomatoes and a pesto cream sauce.  Sauteed zucchini or other veggies would be awesome to add to this.  You can find the recipe here.

 As a side dish to the pasta the other night I made these asparagus.  Simple steam them, then drizzle balsamic vinegar over them and top with feta and sundried tomatoes (they also used walnuts but I didn't have any).  So simple and a great way to jazz up some asparagus (although I love them plan too!)

 Beef stroganoff is one of those meals I remember liking as a kid but always assumed it was a tough one to make.  It's not.  And it's delicious.  This recipe is to make it in the crock pot which worked fantastically.

And dessert.  We can't forget about dessert.  Tomorrow night my parents, grandparents and sister will be here, and we're having chicken enchiladas.  I wanted to make a fun dessert, and this looked delicious.  No Bake Nutella Butter Pie.  It was so simple and I'll admit I already cut a piece (I had to make sure it wasn't terrible before feeding it to company!)  The crust is pureed nutter butter cookies and the filling is cream cheese, sugar, whipping cream, and nutella (I didn't say it was healthy).  There's no baking, just letting it chill to set and then you can top with melted nutella and cream mixed together to create a ganache.  My husband is in love with this pie after only a few bites already.

So! Those are my favorite pins of the week. Anyone else tried any that are a must to pass on??

Parents Need to Eat Too!

If you have known me for awhile, you know that cooking is one of my loves. I love menu planning for the week, grocery shopping, and setting a fresh meal on the table. As you can imagine, since our little one was born I have not done much cooking and that has been frustrating. It's not the fact that I have not been able to cook that has bothered me, it's the fact that when I don't have a menu and plan set I am so much more likely to succumb to fast food, frozen pizza, and other unbalanced meals just to fill our bellies even if it is completely unhealthy. This drives me crazy and goes against everything I was raised to value about food and meal times! A few weeks ago my friend Karen, also a relatively new mom, told me about a cookbook she found and loved. It's called Parents Need to Eat Too by Debbie Koenig and is full of easy meals that are designed for tired new parents. Some are crock pot recipes, some are "one handed meals" that you can eat while holding a little one, some create larger amounts of food so that you can freeze a portion for later, some are "nap friendly" recipes so that she has them broken into stages that you can put together during your kid's various naps throughout the day, and some are designed to help increase milk supply for nursing mothers. I ordered a copy of the book and while I've been here at my parents house I actually read through the entire book cover to cover. It has great tips, and the recipes look SO yummy and balanced and healthy. I decided to take advantage of the extra help I have here and created my monthly menu for April, and then went through all the recipes and made my grocery lists for each week of the month. Debbie has a website that goes along with the book (www.debbiekoenig.com) with links to a ton of recipes not in her book. In order to get you to purchase the book she doesn't link to those recipes. So in case you need some inspiration, new ideas, or are just plain tired of your normal menu, feel free to try some of these along with us this month! To make things easier for planning I assigned a different food category to a different night of the week. So in our house this month Mondays are Mexican food night, Tuesdays are pasta nights, Wednesdays are left overs, Thursdays are some type of meat and/or potato night, Fridays are free nights--so something out of our freezer, or left overs, or going out, Saturdays are slow cooker days, and Sundays are soup and salad nights. So many bloggers I read use a system similar to this to help their planning out, so feel free to borrow the idea as well!

Here's what we're going to be testing out this month--all these are from this new cookbook.

Quick Black Beans & Rice

Beef Ravioli Lasagna

French Onion Chicken (you caramelize the onions overnight in a crock pot and then add chicken in the morning to let it cook all day--so easy and it looks amazing!)

Balsamic Beef Stew

Quesadillas with cheddar and mango chutney

Pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and shrimp

Chipotle Sloppy Joes

Moroccan Red Lentil Stew

Butternut and Gruyere Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Roasted Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

Blue Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Curried Lentil Soup

My mouth is watering! Anyone else ready to get cooking!? I'll let you know later how these things turn out and if I'd still really recommend the book after cooking from it, but for now I'm just super excited to have a month of meals planned out and the shopping lists to go with them!

The Best of my Pinterest...so far

Have you jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon yet? If not, you should. Really, I was skeptical, but it's pretty fun. Especially if you are ever looking for cute, creative, easy ideas for anything related to any area of life. It's a social networking site that allows people to share things they've come across on line and allows others to browse these ideas and "pin" the ones they want to save to their own personal bulletin boards. So you can create a bulletin board for recipes, decorating tips, party ideas, packing techniques, cute quotes, inspirational photographs etc. Then when you do need an idea for something, you have a bulletin board full of suggestions/solutions to any problem. I scroll through about once a week and repin the ideas that strike me, and today went back through the ideas I've collected over the past couple months. Here are a few of my favorites that I thought I'd share with those of you not yet on the bandwagon :)

A great family code

A fun idea for newborn photos

A family memory jar--write down memories throughout the year and then read them together on New Year's Eve. Love this!

A fun before and after baby photo

Need to turn a famous painting into a cake?

Another great family set of rules to live by:

Need large ice cubes for a punch bowl? Try freezing lemon slices in muffin tins of water to make large pretty, flavorful ice! Genius!

Seriously, how cute is this? Way cuter than a veggie try! Next time you serve veggies, break out those vases and martini glasses for the veggies and dip!

Yum. Seriously, Yum. Mini-Caprese bites--tomatoes, mozzarella and basil on a tooth pick for parties.

Need an easy way to store canned goods? Try magazine holders.

Cupboard feeling over run by spray bottles of cleaners? Try hanging a tension rod and hanging the spray bottles to free up space:

I want these sandwiches. Like, now.

And these. I really would love these too. Nutella Pretzel Chocolate Bars.

Did I convince you yet? Pinterest is where you need to head when you're in need of ideas. Seriously, check it out!

7 Quick Takes Friday

Greetings, friends! Another week has come and gone...here's what has been goin'on in the Kennedy household this week.

**1**

There just might be a teensy bit of light at the end of the chaotic job transition tunnel. I'm hopeful anyways. My dear husband actually got to sleep Sunday night for 11 straight hours, he got to be home all day Monday, and Tuesday night was able to be home for dinner and all evening as well. Tomorrow we have nothing on the calendar all day, which feels like a delightful treat.

**2**

Valentines Day wasn't the most romantic around here, but we did accomplish something we'd been needing to do for awhile now...ladies and gentlemen, we now have a budget!

It took a LONG time, but we finally have a budget to work with and have an idea of where our money should be going each month. Honestly, this is my first time really attempting to create/work within a budget and I'm kind of excited for the challenge, to see how we do. So while I wouldn't say it was the most romantic thing to do on Valentines Day it does feel great to have that in place. Our 2nd wedding anniversary is next month...it will not be involving spreadsheets and calculators...

**3**

Part of the budgeting process was figuring out how much we use in a given year of things like shampoo, toilet paper, tooth paste, laundry detergent, cleaning products etc. I was given the task of figuring this out, and then doing a Costco trip to stock up on hopefully all the non-perishables we will need for the year. I am sure I miscalculated at some point, and it took forever, but I actually think we did a pretty decent job! Between Target and Costco I think we have on hand most of what we'll need until 2012 as far as non-perishables go, and I even came in under budget which means when we do run out of something because I didn't figure right we are able to go restock if needed. You should see the spreadsheet I used, it is covered in numbers/math/and price comparisons between Costco and stores like Target. I'm pretty dang proud of myself.

**4**

One of the first things I'm learning about budgeting (which will cause most of you to say "duh!") is that sometimes you have to make choices, and sometimes that means going without something you're used to. The choice I made (partly for environmental reasons and partly for budgeting reasons) is to go paperless in our kitchen. Instead of buying a giant package of paper napkins, we're using the 10 cloth napkins we already owned each night. Instead of buying paper towels this year, I bought a pack of 10 microfiber towels that work great so far for cleaning up spills, using as wash cloths on dishes, catching crumbs etc. Instead of disposable sponges (which are expensive! and not all that sanitary so I'm told) we're using the wash cloths I bought for cleaning dishes (which actually are causing me to use less soap than the sponge did...). We'll see how this goes. I do feel better knowing I'm not throwing away gobs of paper each month, but we'll see how practical this ends up being in the long run.

**5**

The middle school lock in last weekend was definitely an experience! We had 45 6th-8th graders at the church with us all night, and about 6 brave leaders who spent the night. We had a great time playing games, Charles gave a wonderful brief message about finding our identity as God's beloved child, we put on Despicable Me (a GREAT movie if you haven't seen it!) about 11:30 and for the most part they were all asleep by 1:30. Since I'm mostly familiar with high school ministry I learned a few new things about middle schoolers. First being that with high school students no matter when you try to wake them up, it's too early. With middle schoolers, it doesn't matter when you put them to bed, they will be wide awake bouncing off the walls at 7 AM. Which is especially unfortunate when they were supposed to be sleeping until 8:30. It was fun, but I think I still gravitate more towards high school students, I think it's just how I'm wired. Charles on the other hand loves middle schoolers, which I think is a special gift.

**6**

Last weekend I was asked to teach one of the adult education classes on Sunday morning for our associate pastor who was out of town. It was a little nerve wracking as I had only attended this class once, wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to be covering, and couldn't remember most of the names of the 75+ people in the class. But I survived, had fun, received good feedback, and am looking forward to another attempt here at some point.

**7**

Most of you know how much I loved the book The Good and Beautiful God that I read this past year. This year my friends in Seattle and I are starting to go through the second book in the series called The Good and Beautiful Life. It's based on the Sermon on the Mount and so far is really good--I'd recommend it if you are in need of something new to jump start your devotional life. What I especially love about his books is that each chapter has a "Soul Training" exercise, a spiritual discipline for the week to put into practice what he was writing about. But what is especially unique is that not all the disciplines are "traditional" but rather are things like "sleep for 8 hours each night," or "play" or "read the Gospel of John." Yup, I'm a fan of his work, let me know if you have read these books and what you thought of them!

7 Quick Takes Friday--or everything you never cared about

Hi friends! Happy Valentine's Day weekend! Here is the latest and greatest from Seattle!

**1**
I love my little house keeping binder. I really do. I'm telling you, it has made a world of difference for me in a couple ways. I used to save house cleaning for one full day. Those days were exhausting--I'd end up doing 5 loads of laundry, and cleaning absolutely everything in one day, and the place would look awesome for about 2 hours. When company would come over for a meal, I'd spend that whole day frantically trying to make it look presentable, plus cook and grocery shop. And it was always stressful. I don't really want to live like that anymore. I like things to be picked up, and now, thanks to a weekly plan (that of course will change here and there as life happens, it's not set in stone, it's just a guideline!), I don't have to feel overwhelmed by a list of chores. I've spent about an hour (sometimes a bit more depending on the chores) each morning on that day's task, and then I'm done (errands day of course takes longer!). Yup, I'm a fan.

**2**
I think the other major difference I've noticed since having an intentional space to write things down in is how I feel physically and how I am taking care of my body. Because I'm writing it down, I am actually drinking 8 glasses of water a day. I am remembering to take both my vitamins and my calcium. I am drinking 2 glasses of milk a day (I know, some of you think this is unhealthy...I don't, I enjoy non-fat milk and have never had any adverse side effects from drinking dairy). But the biggest thing is in what I'm eating throughout a day. I commented to my husband last night how different I felt, and I think it's because I'm intentionally eating so much produce, filling it in with lean proteins and some whole wheat bread/crackers. When I am hungry I think about what colored food I haven't had yet today and go for that (okay the key is keeping a bunch of produce on hand for this to work!). In the last few days I've had more spinach, kale, and sweet potatoes than probably in the last year, and it has been awesome. My stomach feels happier, less heavy, and well...Oprah and Dr. Oz aren't kidding about the other benefits of eating so much natural foods and fibers!

**3**
One of the books I am currently reading is one I picked up about a month ago with a Barnes and Noble gift card I had one day. The title caught my attention. It's called "Get Energy!" by Denise Austin, and it grabbed me because that's what I always feel like my life lacks. I've never been a super high energy person, I've always wanted to be, but I'm just not. However, lately I've been feeling even more lethargic, desperately wanting cups of afternoon coffee, and just not feeling very awake. I started reading this quick and easy read and love what she has to say already. Nothing she suggests takes very much time, it's all really basic, like stretching for 5 minutes at 3 different points during the day to get the blood moving and deep breathing happening again. She reminds us how important it is to eat a good breakfast to refuel our brains and bodies in the morning...which is always one of my downfalls--I'm a coffee girl in the morning and then will normally be ravenous about 10:30 and eat random stuff just to fill myself up. Denise's impassioned case for breakfast has caused me to change my mind and I've started my days this week by eating whole wheat toast with peanut butter, and some type of fruit with my coffee. Yup, I can honestly say it definitely makes a difference! If you find yourself sluggish throughout the day, grab her book, I promise it will help!

**4**
This week was also my baptism into church involvement :) I was asked last Sunday to fill in this Sunday for one of the adult education classes that I've now attended oh, once. So I'm frantically researching Ephesians 3, my assigned chapter (the class is working their way through Ephesians), and praying that I can put together a 45 minute lecture by Sunday morning. I gotta be honest, straight lecture is not at all how I enjoy teaching, but I have been told this is the style of adult education around here. I've been asked to do a 10 week class this Spring and can do pretty much anything I want...there's no way I can lecture for 45 minutes straight on anything for 10 weeks...and I am not sure anyone should want to listen to me do that! So we'll see what I end up coming with...

**5**
Tonight is the middle school lock in, which means its the first night we'll be spending at the church (out of what I am sure will be MANY over the years!) Wish us luck...

**6**
My friend Kimberlee recently invited people to join her in attempting to write down 100 things they are thankful for this week. I've been joining her in this, and making a list in my journal, and it's been a great experience, to think about things large and small that we have to be grateful for.

**7**
You know how I mentioned awhile ago that an acquaintance from our church in California was competing on Oprah's new network for the chance to host her own TV show? Well Kristina is in the top 5! Episodes are posted on Oprah's website in case you don't have cable (like we don't). She's doing great, I honestly think she's the strongest candidate and I'm hoping she continues to do well!

Venturing into the world of Homemaking

Now that we're relatively settled, and Charles is busy with his new job, I'm working on figuring out what life is going to look like for me. With his really long hours, I'm pretty much in charge of maintaining our home life (which is only fair, it's not really fair for him to work a 12 hour day and then have to go grocery shopping if I've been home throughout the day!) I've thought for the past couple weeks about what I might want my routine and schedule to look like. Without a schedule, I'm pretty useless, I end up feeling aimless, more lethargic, and waste a ridiculous amount of time (like all day in some instances...stupid TV available online!) Eventually I end up feeling a twinge of depression and start to wonder what in the world I'm supposed to be doing here. I knew that if I was going to not have an official job outside the home, I still need a way of structuring my time so that I am productive, get the things done around the home that need to be done, and still have ample time throughout the week to be at the church helping Charles out, and ministering in other ways. I have brainstormed, done a ton of browsing on line to see what other people do when they need to organize their time, and made lists of everything I would like to be able to get done throughout a given week. Some of you are going to laugh at me, and think I'm ridiculous (so honestly, I'm a little hesitant to post this), but others of you are struggling to find a routine for yourself (I know, because some of you have told me you struggle with this!), so even if this isn't what ends up working for you, I hope something I share can be helpful or motivating for someone out in cyber world!

First, meet the newest member of the Kennedy household...our family notebook! Isn't it pretty? :) This has become the center point of my new life here, so I'll give you a tour. My goal was to create something that had almost everything consolidated into one place. So I simply grabbed a 3 ring binder, some page protectors, and started browsing the web to get ideas. The first page is just a page protector where I can slip coupons as I come across them throughout the week so I know where they are when it's time to plan for a grocery store trip.My next section is labeled "Goals" and I've been brainstorming things I'd like to be working towards and accomplishing throughout the next year. Having this section right up front means I am forced to flip past it everytime I open the notebook, so I am always looking at what it is I want to be doing in life. I divided life into 6 categories and am thinking about goals in terms of: social, marriage/family, physical health, leisure, spiritual, and professional/academic. This goals section is also where I have a printed list of the 30 books I am trying to read through this yearand an on-going list I came up with of 100 books I'd like to read eventually (so that when I make my list of books to read next year I have a list already to choose from)The next section is "Menu Planning." My goal is to be able to have a menu done a month at a time. Our schedules change a lot, and being a youth pastor my husband is often gone most evenings, so sometimes dinner is at 9 PM, sometimes I eat alone, sometimes I take food up to the church and we eat there before his evening meetings etc. All that to say our menu plan isn't set in stone, but I try having stuff on hand for 4 meals throughout a week that I can prepare when it looks like a meal needs to be made. My friend Miranda came across a blog where the woman made menu planning a little easier by assigning each night of the week a different category of food to give her a starting place. I'm trying that this month, and it made things easier when I was coming up with meal options! This month Sunday is soup night, Monday is crock pot night, Tuesday and Wednesday are leftover nights, Thursday is pasta night, Friday is leftover night, and Saturday is fish night. I eat a lot of leftovers at lunch, so we go through quite a few meals around here, so all these leftovers really are eaten!The next section is my Weekly Plan. What's a weekly plan you might ask? Great question!I know this is a bit tough to see, but here's what I've come up with. I started by making a list of everything that I needed to do in a week--so all the various loads of laundry (sheets, towels, darks, lights, delicates), stores I visit (the bank, Safeway, the produce stand, Costco once a month etc), and all the household chores. I marked the ones that are done every day (like making the bed) and others, like sweeping the kitchen, only happen once a week. I assigned a day of the week to each task, so I know exactly when I am doing each item on my to do list. Mornings are blocked out for me to work my way through each of the house keeping tasks assigned to a given day. Some people like doing all the laundry in one day. I don't, because that means I feel trapped at home all day waiting to change loads. So I assigned each load of laundry to a different day & only have to do one load a day, which can easily happen in the morning leaving the afternoon free. I also brainstormed other things I wanted a place to record, like tracking how much water I'm drinking in a day, whether or not I've remembered to take my vitamins, if I'm eating the variety of fruits and vegetables I'd like to be eating (the eat a rainbow guidelines is my goal in life now!), and which friend I want to try getting in touch with that day. I created a daily sheet for each day (Tuesday through Friday) and so on each sheet are spaces to record these things, along with a list of that day's assigned chores. Now, when I get up each day I know exactly where I should be starting getting things done and at the end of each day I can look at how I feel, what I accomplished, what needs to happen tomorrow, and if the way I ate that day might have anything to do with my energy levels.I'm attempting to do all my errands on Tuesday mornings, along with cleaning out the fridge, refilling pantry items, and wiping down the kitchen appliances on this day. Wednesday is my dusting day, Thursday is my floors day, and Friday are bathrooms and all the "office" type work that needs to be done--grocery list for the following week, bills, reconciling credit card statements w/ the pile of receipts, birthday cards getting mailed out, Thank you cards etc. Saturdays through Mondays I don't have any assigned chores mostly because I want to be as flexible as possible to be able to spend time with my husband when he gets a break.

The next section is an idea I found on another home maker's blog and I thought it was brilliant. She had created an inventory of all the items that regularly stock their pantry and household. This way instead of racking my brain to remember what it was that I needed to replace, I have a list of things we regularly use to trigger my memory.

List one is things I tend to buy at Costco, not every month, but as needed. I can scan through the list to see what we're out of as I make my shopping list for that month.List 2 is my kitchen/pantry inventory--things we use regularly in cooking.List 3 is Household Supplies--things to keep on hand for first aid, bathroom supplies, office type supplies etc.The next section is Hospitality--where I have two lists--one of people we want to be intentional about having over for a meal (which is proving useful as we're meeting so many people at church we want to get to know better!), and a list of easy meals to make when people are coming over that have proved popular with guests in the past. Again, just trying to intentionally consolidate all this info in one place has been helpful!The next section is labeled "Holidays" I went through our yearly calendar and put everyone's birthday on one piece of paper--family and friends, so I can easily see when I need to restock birthday cards!I also found these blank gift planner templates on line that I'm going to use for our nieces and nephew--where I can write down their current sizes, what we gave them this past year for birthdays and Christmas (I know I've already given at least one duplicate book to poor Diana!), and if I do come up with a brilliant Christmas gift idea in July I'll have a place to write that down.The next section is "Maintenance" where I have two lists--one of things I need our contractor to fix after 6 months as he has promised, and a list of yearly/seasonal cleaning jobs, like turning the mattress, cleaning the window shades, that kind of thing.The last section is "For Fun," where I have lists of movies we want to see, restaurants we want to visit, and things I'd like to write about someday.Want to see the other half of my organizational plan? It's my favorite because it's made up of such fun colors :) The plan is to not take the binder all over the place--it's the stay at home reference point for our family life. However, I'm not always at home, and needed some part of this organizational plan to be portable. So I did what everyone else would have done too--I went to Target. Oh how I love Target. First up, a purse that would be large enough to carry a traveling planner/notebook. I've never owned a purse that is not brown or black. I decided it was time. Meet my new friend :)See, plenty of space:I also got a square 3-subject notebook to carry with me in the new pretty pink purse:So here is where I write my grocery lists each week, my "master to do list" (so at the beginning of the week I can assign things that pop up to different days), and my lists of other errands that need to happen throughout the month as I think of things.We do all of our family calendar on the computer, because thanks to Apple's "Mobile Me" program Charles can access our family calendar from work, so he can see what we have going on when scheduling things. But, I can't take the computer with me. So I got a small purse sized monthly calendar to take with me, and on Fridays during "office time" I'll transfer everything from the computer calendar to my traveling one so when someone at church wants to grab coffee I don't have to say "let me get back to you."
Aren't they happy together? :) There you have it, Sarah's major OCD all in one post. I've had conversations with several friends these days who have mentioned struggling with getting life under control, who want to simplify things. This is just the method I've come up with (and we'll see how it actually works!), and I realize that everyone's life and schedule are different, so please know that this is not me telling anyone else how they "should" be handling their lives! Life is stressful for all of us, so I'd love to hear from others--what works for you when you're trying to work, get things done at home, and have a social life? What systems do you use that are effective for your family?